Editing Simon Busuttil (section)

===Member of the European Parliament===
In 2004, Busuttil was elected as an [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]] with the [[Nationalist Party (Malta)|Nationalist Party]] in the [[2004 European Parliament election in Malta|election for the European Parliament]] netting the largest number of personal preference votes, 58,899 votes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2004-06-16/local-news/Malta-Elects-all-five-MEPs-66987|title=Malta Elects all five MEPs|work=The Malta Independent|date=16 April 2004|accessdate=11 July 2019}}</ref> He was the first Maltese MEP to address the European Parliament on 21 July 2004.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/simon-busuttil-is-first-maltese-nbsp-mep-to-address-euro-parliament.117168|author=Herman Grech|title=Simon Busuttil is first Maltese&nbsp;MEP to address Euro Parliament|work=Times of Malta|date=22 July 2004|accessdate=11 July 2019}}</ref> He was re-elected to the European Parliament in the [[2009 European Parliament election in Malta|2009 election]], again registering the largest vote tally of votes ever, or 68,782 votes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/simon.260198|title=Simon Busuttil re-elected with record 68,782 votes|work=Times of Malta|date=7 June 2009|accessdate=11 July 2019}}</ref>

As an MEP he was a member of the bureau of the [[European People's Party]] (EPP) and sat on various committees including the [[European Parliament]]'s [[European Parliament Committee on Budgetary Control|Committee on Budgetary Control]] and its [[European Parliament Committee on Budgets|Committee on Budgets]].<ref>[https://www.eu40.eu/alumnis/simon-busuttil/ Simon Busuttil]. Retrieved 11 July 2019.</ref> But his strongest contribution was within the [[European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs|Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee]] where he was the Coordinator (Spokesperson) for the EPP Group and covered issues that include the sensitive areas of common European immigration and asylum policy.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2009-07-21/news/simon-busuttil-elected-epp-coordinator-in-civil-liberties-committee-228070/|title=Simon Busuttil Elected EPP coordinator in Civil Liberties Committee|work=The Malta Independent|date=21 July 2009|accessdate=11 July 2019}}</ref>