Malta’s Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are solidifying the tiny country’s reputation as one that punches far above its weight, with the delegation ranking as the second most influential – proportional to its size – in the European institution since 2019.

In fact, five of Malta’s six MEPs ranked among the most influential to some degree, in a new analysis issued by EU Matrix, an EU-focused research platform.

Topping the bill is Roberta Metsola (PN), the President of the European Parliament, who was ranked as the most influential among all 751 MEPs. She was described as a “key legislator on strengthening democracy, media freedom and pluralism in the EU).

A statement by the Nationalist Party described the score as a “very good certificate” for its MEP, who was entrusted with the leadership of the European Parliament two years ago.

Joining her in the list of the Top 100 most influential MEPs is Alex Agius Saliba (PL), who comes in at 45th place. He was also selected among the ’40 under 40’ MEPs to watch out for, ranking 7th in that category.

David Casa (PN) and Alfred Sant (PL) were ranked among the 20 most influential in specific policy areas, these being social policy and finance, respectively.

Meanwhile, Josianne Cutajar (PL) also made it into the ’40 under 40’ list, at the 36th place.

From the Maltese delegation, only Cyrus Engerer (PL) did not feature in the rankings in any way.

All told, the Maltese MEPs ranked a close second to Luxembourg’s, gaining a total influence score of 40.19 as compared to Luxembourg’s 42.5. Portugal’s was a distant third, with a score of 30.36.

On the other end are Hungary’s (13.24), Cyprus’s (13.52) and Italy’s (15.08) delegations, with EU Matrix attributing the low scores of Hungary and Italy to the fact that many of their MEPs belong to unaffiliated groups or isolated ones, which prevents them from accessing reports and leadership positions.

The ranking is based on the collection of “tens of thousands of facts and figures” by the EU Matrix Team, which has over 15 years of experience in measuring the political dimension of EU policy-making. Each criteria is given a weighting after consultation with a wide range of EU practitioners.

The results seek to measure influence through a combination of criteria grouped in the following categories: formal and informal leadership positions, actual legislative work, political network, committee membership and voting behaviour.

EU Matrix states that “this research is meant to help both the professionals and the citizens at large to grasp the intricacies of the politics behind the EU policy making and identify the leading figures that are shaping the legislation for over 440 million citizens.”