Giuseppe Conte | |
---|---|
![]() | |
58th Prime Minister of Italy | |
Assumed office 1 June 2018 | |
President | Sergio Mattarella |
Deputy | Luigi Di Maio (2018–19) Matteo Salvini (2018–19) |
Preceded by | Paolo Gentiloni |
Personal details | |
Born | Volturara Appula, Apulia, Italy | 8 August 1964
Political party | Independent[1] |
Spouse(s) | Valentina Fico (div.)[2] |
Domestic partner | Olivia Paladino[3] |
Children | 1 |
Residence | Palazzo Chigi |
Education | Sapienza University |
Signature | ![]() |
Website | Official website |
| ||
---|---|---|
Prime Minister (2018–present)
![]() |
||
Giuseppe Conte (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈkonte]; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist and politician who is serving as the 58th and current Prime Minister of Italy.[4]
Conte spent the majority of his career as a law professor and was also a member of the Italian Bureau of Administrative Justice. Following the inconclusive 2018 general election, Conte was proposed as the potential independent leader of a coalition government between the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the League, despite his very low public profile nationally.[5] After both parties agreed to a programme for government, Conte was sworn in as Prime Minister on 1 June by President Sergio Mattarella, immediately appointing the M5S and League leaders as his deputies.[6][7]
He became the first Italian Prime Minister without prior political office since Silvio Berlusconi in 1994, as well as and the first from Southern Italy since Ciriaco De Mita in 1989.[8][9] The first Conte Cabinet was described by many publications, such as The New York Times and la Repubblica, as the "first modern populist government in Western Europe".[10][11][12]
On 20 August 2019, Conte offered to resign as Prime Minister when the League filed a motion of no confidence in the coalition government.[13][14] Subsequently, the M5S and the centre-left Democratic Party agreed to form a new government, with Conte remaining as Prime Minister.[15] In the process, Conte became the first Italian Prime Minister to lead separate governments with both right-wing and left-wing coalition partners.[16][17]
Conte has often been nicknamed "the lawyer of the people" (l'avvocato del popolo), as he also defined himself during his first speech as prime minister.[18][19]
Conte was born on 8 August 1964 into a middle class family at Volturara Appula, near Foggia.[20][21] His father Nicola was a public employee in the local municipality while his mother Lillina Roberti was an elementary school teacher.[22][23]
After his family moved to San Giovanni Rotondo, Conte attended the Classical Lyceum "Pietro Giannone" near San Marco in Lamis and then studied Law at the Sapienza University of Rome, where he graduated in 1988 with honors.[24][25][26] For a short terms, Conte studied abroad. In 1992, he moved to the United States to study at Yale Law School and Duquesne University and at the International Culture Institute in Vienna in 1993. He later researched or lectured at Sorbonne University in 2000, Girton College, Cambridge in 2001 and New York University in 2008.[27][28]
He started his academic career during the 1990s, when he taught at Roma Tre University, at LUMSA University in Rome, at the University of Malta and at the University of Sassari.[25] Conte is currently professor of private law at the University of Florence and at LUISS of Rome.[29][30] He sits on the board of trustees of John Cabot University in Rome.[31]
On 18 September 2013, he was elected by the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the Bureau of Administrative Justice, the self-governing body of administrative magistrates.[32]
In February 2018, Conte was selected by Luigi Di Maio, leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S), as the future possible Minister of Public Administration in his cabinet following the 2018 general election.[33] However, the election resulted in a hung parliament,[34] with the M5S that became the party with the largest number of votes and of parliamentary seats while the centre-right coalition, led by Matteo Salvini's League and other right-wing parties, emerged with a plurality of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate. The centre-left coalition led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi came in third.[35]
On 9 May after weeks of political deadlock and the failure of various attempts of forming cabinets both between M5S–Centre-right and M5S–Democratic Party, Di Maio and Salvini responded to President Sergio Mattarella's ultimatum to appoint a neutral technocratic caretaker government by officially requesting that he allow them 24 more hours to achieve a governing agreement between their two parties.[36][37] Later that same day in the evening, Silvio Berlusconi publicly announced Forza Italia would not support a M5S–League government on a vote of confidence, but he would still maintain the centre-right alliance nonetheless, thus opening the doors to a possible majority government between the two parties.[38]
On 13 May, M5S and League reached an agreement in principle on a government program, likely clearing the way for the formation of a governing coalition between the two parties, but could not find an agreement regarding the members of a government cabinet, most importantly the Prime Minister. M5S and League leaders met with President Sergio Mattarella on 14 May to guide the formation of a new government.[39] On their meeting with President Mattarella, both parties asked for an additional week of negotiations to agree on a detailed government program and a Prime Minister to lead the joint government. Both M5S and the League announced their intention to ask their respective members to vote on the government agreement by the weekend.[40][41]
On 21 May, Conte was proposed by Di Maio and Salvini for the role of Prime Minister in the 2018 Italian government,[42][43][44] despite reports in the Italian press suggesting that President Mattarella still had significant reservations about the direction of the new government.[45] On 23 May, Conte was invited to the Quirinal Palace to receive the presidential mandate to form a new cabinet.[46][47] In the traditional statement after the appointment, Conte said that he would be the "defense lawyer of Italian people".[48]
On 27 May, Conte renounced his office due to contrasts between Salvini and President Mattarella. Salvini proposed the university professor Paolo Savona as Minister of Economy and Finances, but Mattarella strongly opposed him, considering Savona too Eurosceptic and anti-German.[49] In his speech after Conte's resignation, Mattarella declared that the two parties wanted to bring Italy out of the Eurozone and as the guarantor of the Italian Constitution and the country's interest and stability he could not allow this.[50][51]
On the following day, Mattarella gave Carlo Cottarelli, a former director of the International Monetary Fund, the task of forming a new government.[52] On 28 May, the Democratic Party (PD) announced that it would abstain from voting the confidence to Cottarelli while the M5S and the center-right parties Forza Italia (FI), Brothers of Italy (FdI) and the League announced their vote against.[53][54]
Cottarelli was expected to submit his list of ministers for approval to President Mattarella on 29 May. On that and the following day, he held only informal consultations with the President, waiting for the formation of a "political government".[55][56] Meanwhile, Salvini and Di Maio announced their willingness to restart the negotiations to form a political government and Giorgia Meloni, leader of FdI, gave her support to the initiative.[55][56][57] On 31 May, M5S and the League declared of having reached an agreement about forming a new government without Paolo Savona as Finance Minister (he would become Minister of European Affairs instead) and with Conte at its head.[58][59]
On 1 June 2018, Conte officially succeeded the Democrat Paolo Gentiloni at the head of the Italian government and was sworn in as the new prime minister in the afternoon.[60] His cabinet was predominantly composed of members of the M5S and the League but also of prominent independent technocrats like the Minister of Foreign Affairs Enzo Moavero Milanesi, who previously served as the minister of European affairs in the government of Mario Monti, the university professor Giovanni Tria as the minister of economy and finances and economist Paolo Savona, who served in the cabinet of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in the 1990s and is currently known for his Eurosceptic views, who became the new minister of European affairs.[61][62]
Both parties' leaders Salvini and Di Maio were appointed Deputy Prime Ministers. While the first became Minister of the Interior, with the main aim of drastically reducing the number of illegal immigrants, the latter served as Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Social Policies to introduce the universal basic income.[63][64]
The coalition of the two populist parties which Conte led was also known as Government of Change,[65] thanks to a document that summarized the electoral programmes of the two parties, which was called "Contract for the Government of Change".[66][67]
During his speech before the investiture vote in the Italian Senate on 5 June, Conte announced his willingness to reduce illegal immigration and increase the contrast to human traffickers and smugglers. He also advocated a fight against political corruption, the introduction of a law which regulates the conflict of interests, a new bill which expands the right of self-defense, a taxes reduction and a drastic cut to politics's costs, thanks to the annuities' abolition.[68][69][70] Conte also proposed to lift off the international sanctions against Russia.[71]
The Senate approved the confidence vote with 171 votes in favor and 117 against, with 25 abstentions.[72] The cabinet was supported by M5S, Lega, two senators from Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE) and two independents while the Democratic Party (PD), Forza Italia (FI), Free and Equal (LeU) and other small leftist parties voted against it. The far-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) and other ten independent senators abstained.[73] On the following day, he received 350 votes in favor out of 630 in the Chamber of Deputies, 236 votes against and 35 abstained.[74] As in the Senate, PD, FI and LeU voted against the government while FdI abstained. Besides M5S and League, Conte received two votes from independent deputies and one vote from Vittorio Sgarbi, a notable and controversial member of Forza Italia who has always heavily criticised the M5S, but decided to support the cabinet in respect of Salvini and with the hope that a M5S government could lead toward their failure.[75][76]
On 5 February 2019, Conte became acting Minister of European Affairs after the resignation of Paolo Savona, who was elected President of the Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB).[77] Conte has since shared his thoughts about what he predicts the Italian economy will look like in 2019. Despite Europe at high risk of a recession and Italy currently in a recession, Conte thinks that the Italian economy could grow up to 1.5%. Despite Conte's beliefs, however, The Bank of Italy says that the economy will only grow to 0.6% in 2019.[78]
In August 2019, Deputy Prime Minister Salvini announced a motion of no confidence against Conte, after growing tensions within the majority.[79] Many political analysts believe the no confidence motion was an attempt to force early elections to improve Lega's standing in Parliament, ensuring Salvini could become the next Prime Minister.[80] On 20 August, following the parliamentary debate at the Senate, in which Conte harshly accused Salvini of being a political opportunist who "had triggered the political crisis only to serve his personal interest" and stated "this government ends here",[81][14] the Prime Minister resigned his post to President Mattarella.[82]
However, during the round of the so-called consultations between Mattarella and the parliamentary groups, a possible new majority emerged, between the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party.[83] On 28 August, PD's leader Nicola Zingaretti announced at the Quirinal Palace his favorable position on keeping Giuseppe Conte at the head of the new government,[84] and on same day, Mattarella summoned Conte to the Quirinal Palace for 29 August to give him the task of forming a new cabinet.[85] On 4 September, Conte announced the ministers of his new cabinet, which was sworn in at the Quirinal Palace on the following day.[86] On 9 September 2019 the Chamber of Deputies granted the confidence to the government with 343 votes in favour, 263 against and 3 abstentions.[87][88] On 10 September 2019, in the second vote of confidence in the Senate, 169 lawmakers voted in favour of his government and 133 against.[89]
On 16 September, after few days from the investiture vote, in an interview to la Repubblica, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced his intention to leave the PD, launching a new centrist and liberal party named Italia Viva (IV).[90][91] In the interview he confirmed also the support to Conte's government.[92] Two ministers and one undersecretary followed Renzi in his new movement.[93]
In December 2019 the Minister of Education, University and Research Lorenzo Fioramonti resigned after disagreements with the rest of the cabinet regarding the recently approved 2020 budget bill. Fioramonti considered the share of funds dedicated to education and research to be insufficient.[94] Conte took the ministerial role ad interim, and announced his decision to split the Ministry of Education, University and Research into two: a Ministry of Public Education led by former undersecretary Lucia Azzolina (M5S), and a Ministry of University and Research led by the dean of the University of Naples Federico II Gaetano Manfredi (Independent), who were sworn in on 10 January.[95][96]
One of Conte's main proposals was the scheduled reform of the Italian tax system, mainly promoted by the League and characterized by the introduction of flat taxes for businesses and individuals, with a no-tax area for low-income households and some small corrections to keep some degree of tax progression as required by the Italian Constitution.[97][98] The government stressed that they will find the funds to implement it through the so-called "fiscal peace", that is a condonation.[99] However, many important economists[who?] and newspapers like Il Sole 24 Ore denounced that the condonation could not finance all the new tax system based on flat tax.[100]
In 2018, Conte's first government, introduced a flat tax with a 15% rate, applied to small entrepreneurs and self-employed with an amount of annual revenues inferior to €65,000. Despite the so-called "flat regime" was a proposal of the right-wing League, it was confirmed also by Conte's second government, with the centre-left.[101]
During his first cabinet, his government rolled out the so-called "citizens' income" (Italian: reddito di cittadinanza), a system of social welfare provision that provides a basic income and assistance in finding a job in order to help poor people and families.[102][103] The income is set to a maximum of €780 per month, and in its first year the program has almost 2.7 million applications.[104][105] The bill, which was heavily criticized by opposition, was later confirmed by Conte's second cabinet.[106][dubious ]
During Conte's governments, more severe punishments for tax dodgers, which are a major problem in Italy, had been approved.[107] With the 2020 financial bill, the government introduced a bill which provided prison for "great tax dodgers".[108]
In September 2019, at the head of his second government, Conte launched the so-called "Green New Deal", named after the analogous US proposed legislation that aimed to address climate change and economic inequality.[109] In the same period, he praised students who protested against climate change, stating: "The images of the squares of the Fridays for Future are extraordinary, with so many young people participating with such passion. From the government there is the utmost commitment to translate this request for change into concrete solutions. We all have a great responsibility."[110]
In January 2020, the cabinet increased to €100 per month the so-called "Renzi bonus", a monthly allowance introduced by Matteo Renzi's government in 2014, recognized to holders of a total annual income not exceeding €24,600.[111] A total of 11.7 million people benefited of the bonus in 2020.[112]
When Conte became Prime Minister in 2018, he acted quickly to deliver on promises to the government's anti-immigration base through strict controls on immigration to Italy. Since 2013, Italy had absorbed over 700,000 African migrants arriving by boat from Libya.[113][114] During his premiership, Conte and his Interior Minister Matteo Salvini promoted stricter policies regarding immigration and public security.[115]
After Conte's approval on 10 June 2018, Salvini announced the closure of Italian ports, stating: "Everyone in Europe is doing their own business, now Italy is also raising its head. Let's stop the business of illegal immigration".[116] The vessel Aquarius, which is operated jointly by Médecins Sans Frontières and SOS Méditerranée and carried more than 600 migrants, was refused a port of disembarkation by the Italian authorities despite having been told to rescue the migrants by the same co-ordination centre. The Italian authority told the vessel to ask Malta to provide a disembarkation port, but Malta also refused.[117] On the following day, the new Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accepted the disputed migrant ship.[118] Conte accused French President Emmanuel Macron of hypocrisy after Macron said Italy was acting "irresponsibly" by refusing entry to migrants and suggested it had violated international maritime law.[119]
On 24 September 2018, the Council of Ministers approved the so-called "Salvini decree", which contained a series of hardline measures that will see the Italian government abolish key forms of protection for migrants and make it easier for them to be deported. The decree will also suspend the refugee application process of those who are considered "socially dangerous" or who have been convicted of a crime.[120]
On 23 September 2019, Italy and other four European countries, Germany, France, Malta and Finland, agreed on a draft deal to present to other EU countries on how to manage the migrant crisis and distribute those saved from the Mediterranean.[121] This agreement was considered a win for Conte and his new interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese.[122][123][124]
Under Conte's governments, the Italian Parliament approved the so-called "Fraccaro Reform", from the name of the M5S deputy who was the bill's first signatory.[125] The reform was finally approved by the Parliament, with the fourth and final vote in the Chamber of Deputies on 8 October with 553 votes in favor and 14 against. In the final vote, the bill was supported both by the majority and the opposition;[126] only the liberal party More Europe (+Eu) and other small groups voted against.[127] The reform provided a cut in the number of MPs, which would shrink from 630 to 400 deputies and from 315 to 200 senators.[128]
After the approval, Conte stated: "The cut to the parliamentarians is a reform that will bring to a greater efficiency of the parliamentary jobs. Now, citizens to be closer to the institutions. It is a historical passage that, together with other projected reform, will be a prelude to greater efficiency of our parliamentary system."[129]
The referendum to approve the reform was scheduled on 29 March, however it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic which severely affected Italy.[130]
In February 2020, Italy became the first European country and the second in the world for confirmed cases of COVID-19, a virus from China which caused a respiratory disease.[131] In late January, the government banned all flights from and to China, becoming the first European country to adopt this measure.[132] In February and March, over 60,000 coronavirus cases were confirmed, affecting mainly Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto.[133]
On 22 February, the Council of Ministers announced a bill to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, quarantining more than 50,000 people from 11 different municipalities in Northern Italy. Prime Minister Conte stated: "In the outbreak areas, entry and exit will not be provided. Suspension of work activities and sport events has already been ordered in those areas."[134]
Schools were closed in 10 municipalities in Lombardy, one in Veneto and in Emilia-Romagna. In some areas, all public events were cancelled and commercial activities were halted.[135] Regional train services suspended the stops in the most affected areas – with trains not stopping at Codogno, Maleo and Casalpusterlengo stations.[136][137] Universities in Lombardy suspended all activities from 23 February.[138][139][140]
On 8 March 2020, Prime Minister Conte extended the quarantine to all of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces, putting more than a quarter of the national population under lockdown.[141] On the following day, he announced in a press conference that all measures previously applied only in the so-called "red zones" had been extended to the whole country, putting de facto 60 million people in lockdown. He later proceeded to officially sign the executive decree.[142][143] This measure was described as the largest lockdown in human history.[144][145][146][147]
The lockdown measures, despite being widely approved by public opinion,[148] were also described as the largest suppression of constitutional rights in the history of the republic.[149][150]
On 20 March, the Ministry of Health ordered tighter regulations on free movement. The new measures banned open-air sports and running, except individually and in close proximity of one's residence. Parks, playgrounds and public green were closed down. Furthermore, movement across the country was further restricted, by banning "any movement towards a residence different from the main one", including holiday homes, during weekends and holidays.[151] While on the following day, Conte announced further restrictions within the nationwide lockdown, by halting all non-essential production, industries and businesses in Italy,[152] following the rise in the number of new cases and deaths in the previous days.[153][154]
On 24 March, in a live-streamed press conference, Conte announced a new decree approved by the Council of Ministers. The decree imposed higher fines for the violation of the restrictive measures, and a regulation of the relationship between government and Parliament during the emergency. It included also the possibility of reducing or suspending public and private transport, and gave the regional governments power to impose additional restrictive regulations in their Regions for a maximum of seven days before being confirmed by national decree.[155][156]
On 1 April, Conte's government extended the period of lockdown until 13 April.[157]
Since the beginning of his term as prime minister, Conte's foreign policy has been characterized by a lenient approach to Russia. For example, he advocated the repeal of international sanctions against Russia, which according to him damage the Italian economy.[citation needed] He also considered Russia a strategic partner in the fight against Islamic terrorism.[158] However, Conte stressed that under his leadership Italy will remain an active member of NATO and a close ally of the United States.[159]
On 8 and 9 June, Conte participated in his first G7 summit, hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada.[160] During the summit, he was the only leader to back U.S. President Donald Trump and his proposal to readmit Russia into the G7.[161] However, he later assumed a more pro-European view, shared by the other five leaders, condemning Trump tariffs on steel and aluminium exported by the European Union.[162] On the following day, Conte was thanked for his positions on Russia and his populist stance by President Trump, who invited him to the White House.[163] After a few days, Trump praised Conte, describing him as a "really great" leader and "very strong on immigration".[164] Trump endorsed Conte during the 2019 Italian political crisis, hoping that he could remain Prime Minister.[165]
On 28 June, Conte participated in his first European Council meeting and blocked a joint EU trade and defense statement criticizing Trump's tariff policy.[166]
In March 2019, Conte and the Chinese President Xi Jinping signed in Rome 29 economic and institutional agreements amounting to 2.5 billion euros, including a memorandum of understanding vis-à-vis the Belt and Road Initiative investments program.[167][168] In August 2019, he took part, as caretaker Prime Minister, in the 45th G7 summit in Biarritz.[169] The main topics of the summit included global trade, climate change, taxing technology companies,[170] but also Iran nuclear deal,[171] and 2019 Amazon wildfires.[172]
Conte criticized the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria. He stated that the offensive puts the region's civilians and stability in jeopardy.[173]
In January 2020, the situation of the Libyan Civil War became increasingly worrying, with the troops of field marshal Khalifa Haftar approaching Tripoli. During the crisis, Prime Minister Conte had a series of bilateral meetings in Rome both with Haftar and Fayez al-Sarraj, the Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya, who are considered two of the main contenders in the civil war.[174] After pressures from the international community, on 12 January Haftar announced a ceasefire.[175]
On 22 March 2020, after a phone call with Conte, Russian president Vladimir Putin arranged the Russian army to send military medics, special disinfection vehicles and other medical equipment to Italy, which was the European country hardest hit by coronavirus.[176]
During an interview in 2018, Conte said he used to vote for the left before approaching the M5S during the late 2010s. He also added that today "the ideological schemes of the 20th century are no longer adequate to represent the current political system" and it should be "more important and correct to evaluate the work of a political force on how it is positioned on the respect of fundamental rights and freedoms".[177]
In his inaugural speech at the Senate on 5 June 2018,[178][179] in response to attacks on government political forces accused of being populist and anti-establishment, Conte replied that "if populism is the attitude of the ruling class to listen to the people's needs [...] and if anti-establishment means aiming at introducing a new system able to remove old privileges and encrusted power, well, these political forces deserve both these epithets".[180][181][182]
He also opposed the "hypertrophy of Italian laws", advocating the repeal of useless laws and supported a simplification of bureaucracy.[183] Conte strongly opposed the school reform legislation promoted by Matteo Renzi's government in 2015, known as "The Good School", which he said must be completely revised.[184]
Conte, a Roman Catholic, is a devout votary to Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.[185] Despite being labeled as a post-ideological leader,[186] Conte described his political ideal as "new humanism".[187][188]
Giuseppe Conte married Valentina Fico, a lawyer from Rome and daughter of a former director of the Santa Cecilia conservatory.[189] They have a child, Niccolò, born in 2007.[190] However, they divorced after a few years.[191] Conte is currently engaged with Olivia Paladino (born 1979),[192] daughter of the Roman entrepreneur Cesare Paladino and the Swedish actress Ewa Aulin.[193]
On 21 May 2018, when Conte was proposed to President Mattarella as candidate for prime minister,[43] The New York Times questioned his summer stays at New York University (NYU) listed in his official curriculum vitae[27] in an article asserting that a NYU spokeswoman could not find Conte in university "records as either a student or faculty member".[45][194] Similar doubts arose concerning his study period in France at the Sorbonne University.[195]
The following day, the Associated Press reported in an article published also by The New York Times that the NYU spokeswoman added that "while Mr. Conte had no official status at NYU, he was granted permission to conduct research in the NYU law library" during the period listed in his official curriculum vitae.[27][196] Similarly, the Duquesne University of Pittsburgh and the University of Malta found no record of him in their archives,[197] although it was confirmed that Conte held lectures at the old university building in Valletta, Malta, for the Foundation for International Studies.[198] Yale University, contacted by another newspaper, confirmed that he was a visiting scholar there for three months.[199]
Moreover, Conte stated in his CV that he had worked for his legal studies at the Kulturinstitut in Vienna, Austria, but this is a language school, not a law school.[195]
![]() |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Giuseppe Conte |
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Giuseppe Conte. |
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Paolo Gentiloni |
Prime Minister of Italy 2018–present |
Incumbent |
Order of precedence | ||
Preceded by Roberto Fico as President of the Chamber of Deputies |
Order of precedence of Italy as Prime Minister |
Succeeded by Marta Cartabia as President of the Constitutional Court |