Roberto Gualtieri (born 19 July 1966) is an Italian historian, academic and politician of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(PD), incumbent

Mayor of Rome The mayor of Rome ( it, sindaco di Roma) is an elected politician who, along with the City Council of Rome, Rome City Council ( it, Assemblea Capitolina) of 48 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Rome. As Rome is a ''Comune, ...

since

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and Minister of Economy and Finances in the second government of

Giuseppe Conte Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) sin ...

from 2019 until 2021. He previously was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 2009 to 2019, where he chaired the influential Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee within the Parliament from 2014 until 2019.

Early life and career

Gualtieri was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1966. In 1992 he graduated in

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

Sapienza University The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

of Rome. In 1997, he obtained a Ph.D in history at the

Scuola Superiore di Studi Storici di San Marino The Scuola Superiore di Studi Storici di San Marino (Graduate School of Historical Studies at San Marino), founded in 1988, is a doctorate-awarding centre for research and study in history and related humanities, with a strong international characte ...

. Gualtieri later became professor of Contemporary history at Sapienza University of Rome, where he had authored several books and articles on twentieth century Italian history and on the history of European integration.

Political career

Since 2001, Gualtieri has been Deputy Director of the Gramsci Institute Foundation. In the same year, he became a member of

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...

(DS), the main social-democratic political party in Italy, direct heir of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

. In 2006, Gualtieri was among the founders of the

(Congress of Orvieto, October 2006) and he was among the "wise men" who wrote its Manifesto. In 2007 he was elected to the National Assembly of the party and since 2008 he has been a member of its National board, where he was confirmed in 2014. Gualtieri voted against party leader

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having been ...

in favour of post-communists both in 2013 and 2014 (the year Renzi won the leadership ballot). From 2008 to 2011, Gualtieri served as director (with José Luis Rhi-Sausi) of the "Annual Report on European Integration" (published by Il Mulino). Since 2009, he is a member of the editorial committee of the Foundation "Italianieuropei" .

Member of the European Parliament

In 2009, Gualtieri was appointed S&D Group coordinator for the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) and standing

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

for the

Common Foreign and Security Policy The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is the organised, agreed foreign policy of the European Union (EU) for mainly security and defence diplomacy and actions. CFSP deals only with a specific part of the EU's external relations, whic ...

(CFSP) budget in the

Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis, who has held this position since 7 July 2014.Committee on Constitutional Affairs The Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) is a committee of the European Parliament dealing with institutional matters such as the Treaties of the European Union and the Parliament's rules of procedure. It is currently chaired by Antonio Tajan ...

(AFCO) and substitute of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). In 2010, he was appointed S&D Group negotiator within the EP negotiating team (with

Elmar Brok Elmar Peter Brok (born 14 May 1946) is a German politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1980 until 2019, who is best known for his role as chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is a mem ...

and Guy Verhofstadt) on the creation of the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service and combined foreign and defence ministry of the European Union (EU). The EEAS is led by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), who is also ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the parliament's delegation for relations with the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...

between 2009 and 2014. Gualtieri, Roberto-9790

In December 2011, Gualtieri was part of the European Parliament negotiating team (with Brok, Verhofstadt and

Daniel Cohn-Bendit Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (; ; born 4 April 1945) is a French-German politician of Jewish descent. He was a student leader during the unrest of May 1968 in France and was also known during that time as ''Dany le Rouge'' (French for "Danny the Red" ...

) for the establishment of the "Fiscal Compact". In October 2012, he was designated "sherpa" negotiator for the European Parliament (with Brok, Verhofstadt and Cohn-Bendit) in the working group set up by

Herman Van Rompuy Herman Achille, Count Van Rompuy (; born 31 October 1947) is a Belgian politician, who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009 and then as the first permanent president of the European Council from 2009 to 2014. A politicia ...

on a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union. In 2013 he was co-rapporteur of the Report on constitutional problems of a multitier governance in the European Union with Rafał Trzaskowski. In 2013, he participated in the elaboration of the new Treaty for the European Union, with Brok, Verhofstaft, Cohn-Bendit,

Andrew Duff Andrew Nicholas Duff, OBE (born 25 December 1950) is a British politician who presided over the Union of European Federalists (UEF) from 2008 to 2013. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for ...

and Jo Leinen, promoted by the "Spinelli Group", of which he is a member. From 2013, Gualtieri was member of the Spinelli Group in the European Parliament, and he has been among the authors of the "Fundamental Law of the European Union" (with

, Guy Verhofstadt,

and Jo Leinen), published by the

Bertelsmann Foundation The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. As the Bertelsmann Stiftung itself h ...

. Gualtieri led the EU-Election Observer Missions for the parliamentary election in Kosovo in 2014 and the 2013 municipal elections in Kosovo. Following his re-election as an MEP in July 2014, Gualtieri was elected Chairman of the

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight ...

. On the committee, he served as rapporteur of several files, among which the Annual Banking Union report, statistical files, including the appointments of heads and board members of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#Intern ...

, the

Single Resolution Board The Single Resolution Board (SRB) is an EU agency that was established in Brussels in 2015 as part of the broader set of reforms known as the banking union. It acts as the resolution authority for a subset of banks in the euro area and as the inst ...

, the

European Banking Authority The European Banking Authority (EBA) is a regulatory agency of the European Union headquartered in Paris. Its activities include conducting stress tests on European banks to increase transparency in the European financial system and identifying ...

, the

European Securities and Markets Authority The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an independent European Union Authority located in Paris. ESMA replaced the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) on 1 January 2011. It is one of the three new European Supe ...

, the

European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) is a European Union financial regulatory institution that replaced the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS). It is established under EU Re ...

. He chaired the EP Financial Assistance Working Group, established in 2016 to monitor the implementation of third Greek financial assistance program, and the Committee's Banking Union Working Group. From 2016, Gualtieri was also a member of the Committee of Inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion. In addition, he was a member of the

Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue Taking the existing interparliamentary relationship as its basis, the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD) aims to strengthen and enhance the level of political discourse between European and American legislators. It does so against the backgr ...

(TLD), the European Parliament Intergroup on Integrity (Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime) and of the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup Intergroups are formed of Members of the European Parliament from any political group and any committee, with a view to holding informal exchanges of views on particular subjects ...

. From 2017, Gualtieri served on the Parliament's so-called Brexit Steering Group, which works under the aegis of the

Conference of Presidents In the European Union, the Conference of Presidents is a governing body of the European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Counci ...

and to coordinates Parliament's deliberations, considerations and resolutions on the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Within group, he was – together with Guy Verhofstadt and

– one of the Parliament's representatives at the European Council Sherpa meetings on Brexit. Following the 2019 elections, Gualtieri was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's five-year work program on economic and fiscal policies as well as trade. Shortly after, Gualtieri was elected vice-chair of the S&D Group, under the leadership of chairwoman

Iratxe García Iratxe García Pérez (; born 7 October 1974) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). She has served as Member of the European Parliament since 2004, and has served as the Leader of the Progressive Alliance of So ...

Minister of Economy and Finance

Steven Mnuchin and Roberto Gualtieri at 2019 IMF Meeting

In August 2019 tensions grew within the populist government, leading to the issuing of a motion of no-confidence on Prime Minister

by the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

. After Conte's resignation, the national board of the PD officially opened to the possibility of forming a new cabinet in a coalition with the M5S, based on pro-Europeanism,

green economy A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politi ...

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

, fight against

economic inequality There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...

and a new immigration policy. The party also accepted that Conte may continue at the head of a new government, and on 29 August President

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy par ...

formally invested Conte to do so. On 5 September 2019 Gualtieri was appointed Minister of Economy and Finance. On 26 January 2020, Gualtieri was picked by the centre-left coalition as its candidate at the incoming by-election in the constituency of Rome ''Quartiere Trionfale'' for the Chamber of Deputies. The by-election follows the resignation of

Paolo Gentiloni Paolo Gentiloni Silveri (; born 22 November 1954) is an Italian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Economy in the von der Leyen Commission since 1 December 2019. He previously served as prime minister of Italy from December ...

from his seat in the Chamber after his appointment as

European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs The European Commissioner for Economy is a member of the European Commission. The current Economy Commissioner is Paolo Gentiloni. From 2014 to 2019 the post was named ''Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs''. Un ...

in the

von der Leyen Commission The von der Leyen Commission is the current European Commission, in office since 1 December 2019 and is to last until the 2024 elections. It has Ursula von der Leyen as its president and it further consists of one commissioner from each of the m ...

. In July 2020, Gualtieri, along with Prime Minister Conte and Minister Vincenzo Amendola, played a key role in one of the longest

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the E ...

s in history. After days of harsh confrontations, the European leaders agreed on a new proposal by the President of the Council,

Charles Michel Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician serving as the president of the European Council since 2019. He previously served as the prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Michel became the minister of Developm ...

, which provided a budget of €750 billion for the so-called Recovery Fund, composed of €390 billion in grants and €360 billion in loans. Italy would benefit from nearly €82 billion in grants and €127 billion in loans. In January 2021, the centrist party

Italia Viva Italia Viva (, IV) is a liberal political party in Italy founded in September 2019. The party is led by Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the Democratic Party (PD). History Background Matteo Renzi started ...

withdrew its support for Conte's government. Although Conte was able to win

confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

s in the Parliament in the subsequent days, he chose to

resign Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

after failing to reach an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

in the Senate. When negotiations to form Conte's third cabinet failed, the former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the

Mario Draghi Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker and civil servant who served as prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of ...

, formed a

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

, in which Gualtieri was not confirmed as minister.

Mayor of Rome

On 9 May 2021, Gualtieri officially announced his candidacy as

in the upcoming election. On 18 October, he defeated the centre-right candidate, Enrico Michetti, with 60.2% of votes. He took office on 21 October 2021.

Political positions

Gualtieri is a

social democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and often describes himself as a

Keynesian Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output and ...

. In 2016, the magazine ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' ranked Gualtieri as number 8 among 40 most influential MEPs.

Personal life

Gualtieri is married and he has a son. He was once a semi-professional

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

musician who accompanied Brazilian singer

Rosalia de Souza Rosalia de Souza is a Brazilian bossa nova singer. She was born in Nilópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an area famous for its samba school, Beija-Flor. After travelling to Italy at the age of 21, she began to study music theory, Cuban percuss ...

when she performed in Italy.

Other activities

European Union institutions

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

(EIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021) *

European Stability Mechanism The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is an intergovernmental organization located in Luxembourg City, which operates under public international law for all eurozone member states having ratified a special ESM intergovernmental treaty. It was ...

(ESM), Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021)

International organizations

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...

(AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021) * Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021) *

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

(EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021) *

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

(IMF), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021)

Non-profit organizations

* New Pact for Europe, Member of the Advisory GroupAdvisory Group
New Pact for Europe.

Electoral history

First-past-the-post elections

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gualtieri, Roberto 1966 births 21st-century Italian politicians Democratic Party (Italy) MEPs Democratic Party (Italy) politicians 20th-century Italian historians Living people MEPs for Italy 2009–2014 MEPs for Italy 2014–2019 MEPs for Italy 2019–2024 Politicians from Rome Sapienza University of Rome faculty Conte II Cabinet Finance ministers of Italy Mayors of Rome