Italian politician (born 1968)
Sandro Gozi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsandro ˈɡɔddzi]) (born 25 March 1968) is an Italian politician formerly of the Democratic Party who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2020. He was a member of Italy's Chamber of Deputies from 2006 to 2018,[1] and was elected to the European Parliament in 2019, representing France on the list of Emmanuel Macron's LREM party.
Early life and education
Gozi was born on 25 March 1968 in Sogliano al Rubicone. After attending high school in Cesena, he graduated in law from the University of Bologna in 1992. He then obtained a diplôme d'études approfondies at SciencesPo in Paris in 1994. In 1996, he defended a PhD in public law in Bologna with a thesis on European comitology.[2][3] He also holds a master's degree in international politics from Brussels Free University in 1998.[citation needed]
During his university years, Gozi was close to the post-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) of Giorgio Almirante, with whom he is portrayed in a photo.[4] In 1990, he was a member of the MSI's Forlì Youth Front,[5] circumstance which he later denied.[6] He said to have voted for the first time for the Italian Republican Party.[4]
Early career
Between 1995 and 1996, Gozi worked in Italy's foreign service, dealing with economic relations with the states of the former Yugoslavia, Turkey, Cyprus, Albania, and Greece. He subsequently was an official at the General Secretariat of the European Commission for almost a decade from 1996 to 2005, dealing with relations with the European Parliament,[3] and then with the negotiation for the adoption of the euro. In 1997, he participated in the negotiations on the Amsterdam Treaty.[citation needed] From 2000 to 2004, he served as political assistant and member of cabinet of then European Commission President Romano Prodi, and then at the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA) at the start of the first Barroso Commission.[3]
In 2001, Gozi was also appointed coordinator for the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. When he returned to Italy in 2005, he initially worked as diplomatic adviser to leftist Nichi Vendola, president of the Apulia region. In 2006, he joined Romano Prodi's electoral committee in view of the 2006 Italian general election and served as deputy secretary general of the European Democratic Party. Gozi has been visiting lecturer at various European universities, including the College of Europe in Bruges (in 2001),[3] and the European College in Parma, as well as the Drew University of Madison, New Jersey. From 1999 to 2008, he was director of the ISMaPP institute in Brussels.
Political career
Member of the Italian Parliament, 2006–2018
A member of the national parliament since the 2006 elections who was elected in Umbria on the list of L'Ulivo, Gozi again advised then-prime minister Prodi on European Union (EU) politics until 2008, and later served as chairman of the parliamentary committee on Schengen, Europol and immigration affairs.[3]
In 2007, he was one of the founders of the Democratic Party (PD) as a member of the national leadership, and elected to the national assembly of the party for the Democrats for Veltroni faction. Between 2008 and 2013, he headed the PD delegation in the parliamentary committee for European affairs, and he was in charge at national level of EU policies for the PD.
At the 2008 Italian general election, Gozi was re-elected as MP for Umbria for the PD, again serving as head of the party delegation in the parliamentary committee for European affairs. At the 2009 PD leadership election, Gozi served as national manager and Emilia-Romagna coordinator for the Ignazio Marino campaign. Under the new party secretary Pier Luigi Bersani, he then served as president of the Europe Forum of the party and head of the Together for the PD faction. In 2010, Bersani appointed him as responsible for Europe in the party secretariat. That same yeat, Gozi launched a domestic campaign to support the appointment of Mario Draghi, the governor of Banca d'Italia, as next President of the European Central Bank.[7]
From 2011 to 2013, Gozi was ambassador for the Rome bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[8] In September 2012, he announced he would run for the 2012 centre-left primary election for the office of President of the Council;[9] he had to withdraw after not being able to collect the required 95 signatures of party delegates.[10] At the 2013 Italian general election, Gozi was elected again as MP for Lombardy for the PD. In addition to his role in the Italian Parliament, Gozi was a member of the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2013 until 2015. In the Assembly, he served on the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (2013–2015), the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (2013–2014), and the Sub-Committee on Human Rights (2014–2015).[11] During that time, he also served as one of the Assembly's vice-presidents, and since January 2014 as vice-president of the Socialist Group in the assembly.
Under-Secretary for European Affairs, 2014–2018
On 28 February 2014, Gozi joined the Renzi Cabinet as Under-Secretary for European Affairs in the office of Matteo Renzi.[3] Despite not receiving the title of minister, as his predecessors, Gozi was tasked with coordinating, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the six months of Italy's presidency of the EU Council. In 2014 and 2015, he also signed up as member of the Italian Radicals.[12][13][14]
In 2014, Gozi and Harlem Désir, the then French Secretary of State for European Affairs, set out a list of priorities after talks in Paris, saying the European Commission should adopt more growth-friendly economic policies and grant maximum flexibility within existing EU budget rules to countries undertaking growth-promoting investments and structural economic reforms.[15] In 2015, Gozi called for a two-speed Europe that would let countries which desired closer integration forge ahead.[16] A year later, he said Italy also wanted a single economy minister for the eurozone answerable to elected governments.[17]
At the 2018 Italian general election, Gozi was candidate for Parliament in his native Emilia-Romagna, where he came in third among the PD candidates and was not elected.[18] In November 2018 in Vienna, he was elected president of the Union of European Federalists.[19] In December 2018, Gozi said he was working, together with Carlo Calenda and +Europa, on a new party for Renzi aimed at gathering the votes of moderates leaving Forza Italia and of disgruntled grillini.[20] On 20 September 2019, he announced his departure towards Italia Viva, Renzi's new centrist party.
In April 2019, together with the Central Bank of San Marino's president Catia Tomasetti, Gozi was investigated by the court of the Republic of San Marino for "unfaithful administration" as part of a "phantom" consultancy for the Central Bank on the "regulatory adjustment to harmonize relations with the EU".[21][22] On 2 July 2020, Gozi and Tomasetti were fully released from any accusation, as it appeared that there was no relevant conduct against them. [23] In 2021, Alberto Buriani, the judge responsible for the investigation, was committed for trial for perjury and attempted concussion against Tomasetti for facts relating to the aforementioned investigation,[24] as well as breach of investigation secrecy and of professional secrecy, concerning the investigation of Gozi and Tomasetti.[25]
Member of the European Parliament, 2020–present
For the 2019 European Parliament election, Gozi joined the election campaign in France on the joint Renaissance list of Emmanuel Macron's La République en Marche (LREM) and of centrists MoDem party.[26][27][28] He participated in the elections while remaining a member of the Italia Viva in Italy.[29] Gozi was elected among the five French substitute MEPs who were to take the place of British MEPs after Brexit took effect.[30] In the meantime, he was appointed by the government of Édouard Philippe as chargé de mission on European affairs in late July.[30] For this choice, he was criticized by Italian politicians, both by representatives of the government (Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini) and by representatives of his opposition party (Carlo Calenda).[31][32] In October 2019, it was reported that Gozi also worked for Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat; according to Gozi, such consultancy ended when appointed by the French government.[33] Following the controversy, he resigned from office with the French government.[34]
Gozi eventually took office as Member of the European Parliament in February 2020. In Parliament, he has since been serving on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.[35] Since 2021, he has been part of the parliament's delegation to the Conference on the Future of Europe.[36] In May 2021, he was elected as Secretary General of the European Democratic Party.[37] In addition to his committee assignments, Gozi is part of the parliament's delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries.[35] He is also a member of the Spinelli Group,[38] as well as the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.[39]
