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JOHN DALLI (1948-) is one of the 27 European Commissioners in the Barroso II Commission (2010-14), wherein he has responsibility for health and consumer policy. Dalli is one of the most senior Maltese politicians of his generation. He entered the Maltese House of Representatives in 1987 and subsequently served in a number of governments, as Minister of Economic Affairs (1990-92) and as Minister of Finance (1992-96 and 1998-2004). He served briefly as Minister of Foreign Affairs (in 2004) but resigned after three months, citing personal reasons. He was appointed Minister for Social Policy in 2008 and was successfully nominated to the Barroso Commission in late 2009.

MARIA DAMANAKI (1952-) is one of the 27 European Commissioners of the Barroso II Commission (2010-14), where she has responsibility for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. She was born in Crete and went on to study chemical engineering at the Technical University of Athens where she became politically active in her opposition to the dictatorship in Greece between 1969 and 1974. She had been a member of the Communist Youth of Greece, but became primarily known as a member of the radical left-leaning party, Synaspismos. She was first elected to the Greek parliament in 1977 at the age of 25 as a member of Synaspismos and became the first woman to be elected to the position of VicePresident of the parliament (1986-90). Furthermore, she became the first female to become President of a Greek political party, in 1989. Although she lost her seat in 1993 when Synaspismos polled badly, she was re-elected to parliament in 2000 and took a special interest in education and culture. Her political journey led her to resign from Synaspismos in 2003 and to join PASOK (the Greek Socialist Party). She was appointed chair of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence in 2009 and was then nominated by the PASOK-led Government as their representative on the Barroso II Commission in 2009.