Raffaele Costa (born 8 September 1936 in Mondovì) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the President of the Province of Cuneo, from June 2004 to June 2009. He was previously a member of the

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical funct ...

representing the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party ( it, Partito Liberale Italiano, PLI) was a liberal and conservative political party in Italy. The PLI, which is the heir of the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party ...

and later

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

, between 1976 and 2003, and was also 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 ...

of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

until June 2004. His son

Enrico Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri ( French), Enr ...

is also a politician - he was Minister of Regional Affairs in the

Renzi Cabinet The Renzi government was the 63rd government of the Italian Republic, in office from February 2014 to December 2016. It was led by Matteo Renzi, secretary and leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD). The government was composed of membe ...

and the

Gentiloni Cabinet The Gentiloni government was the 64th government of the Italian Republic, in office from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018. The government was headed by Paolo Gentiloni, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Renzi government. The government ...

Education

Costa holds a degree in Law and Political Science.

Parliamentary career

He was elected to the

in 1976, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2001.

As Minister

He was Minister without Portfolio for the co-ordination of community political and regional affairs (1992), Minister of Health (1993), Minister of Transport and Minister of the Merchant Marine in the Ciampi government.

As Under-Secretary of State

Costa was parliamentary under-secretary of state in the: *Ministry of Justice *Ministry of Foreign Affairs (8th Legislature) *Ministry of the Interior (Craxi Government) *Ministry of Public Works (9th Legislature)

In the European Parliament

* Member 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 Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

's former ''Committee on the Atmosphere'' * Member of European Parliament's

Committee on Budgetary Control The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is a committee of the European Parliament. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the European Union's internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesirable developments within EU institutio ...

* Member of European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety * Member of European Parliament's

Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * coordination at Community level of national legislation in the sphere of th ...

Other appointments

* Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Chamber of Deputies * Vice-Chairman of the Agriculture and Forestry Committee of the Chamber of Deputies (1976–1979) * General Secretary of the

(1993–1994) * Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Federalist parliamentary group (1995–1996) * Administrator of

's Office for Citizens' Rights * President of the Province of

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

(2004–2009)

Author

Costa has written four books: *''The Doctor is Outside the Room'' *''My First Republic'' *''Italy, Land of Waste'' *''Italy, Land of Privilege''

Publisher

He founded and published the periodical ''Il Duemila'' in 1971.

External links

* 1936 births Living people People from Mondovì Italian Liberal Party politicians Forza Italia MEPs MEPs for Italy 1999–2004 Transport ministers of Italy Italian Ministers of Health {{Italy-MEP-stub