Sandro Gozi

Sandro Gozi (Italian pronunciation: [ˌsandro ˈɡɔddzi]) (born 25 March 1968 in Sogliano al Rubicone) is an Italian politician of the Democratic Party who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2020. He was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2006 to 2018[1] and was elected to the European Parliament in 2019, representing France on the list of Macron's LREM.

Sandro Gozi
Member of the European Parliament
Assumed office
1 February 2020
ConstituencyFrance
Undersecretary to European Affairs
In office
22 February 2014 – 1 June 2018
Prime MinisterMatteo Renzi
Paolo Gentiloni
Preceded byEnzo Moavero Milanesi
Succeeded byPaolo Savona
Member of the Italian Chamber
In office
28 April 2006 – 22 March 2018
ConstituencyPiedmont
Personal details
Born (1968-03-25) 25 March 1968
Sogliano al Rubicone, Cesena, Italy
Political partyMSI (1990)
PD (2007-2019)
Italia Viva (since 2019)
Alma materUniversity of Bologna
ProfessionTeacher
WebsiteOfficial website

Biography

After attending high school in Cesena, Sandro Gozi 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.

During his university years, Gozi is close to the post-fascist Italian Social Movement of Giorgio Almirante, with whom he is portrayed in a photo.[4] In 1990 he was a member of the Forlì Youth Front,[5] circumstance which he later denied.[6]. He claimed to have voted for the first time for the Italian Republican Party.[4]

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 1996–2005, 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. 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 he was also appointed Coordinator for the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. When he returned to Italy in 2005, Gozi initially worked as diplomatic adviser to leftist Nichi Vendola, President of Apulia region. In 2006 he joined Romano Prodi's electoral committee in view of the 2006 elections 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, and the Drew University of Madison, New Jersey. From 1999 to 2008 he was director of the ISMaPP institute in Brussels. He has also been a member of the ECFR, president of the Italy-India Association, and member of the steering group of the Spinelli Group.

Member of the Italian Parliament

A member of the national parliament since the 2006 elections (elected in Umbria on the list of L'Ulivo), Gozi again advised then-prime minister Prodi on European 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 (Italy) (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 Democratic Party delegation in the parliamentary committee for European affairs, and he was in charge at national level of EU policies for the Democratic Party.

At the 2008 elections 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 party primaries, 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. The following year, in 2010, Bersani appointed him as responsible for Europe in the party secretariat.

In 2010, 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 centre-left primary election for the office of President of the Council,[9], but he had to withdraw after not being able to collect the required 95 signatures of party delegates.[10].

At the 2013 elections Gozi was elected again as MP for Lombardy for PD. From 2013 to 2015, Gozi was also a member of Italy's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. During that time, he served as one of the assembly's vice-presidents, and since January 2014 as vice-president of the Socialist group in the assembly.

In 2014, Gozi joined the Renzi Cabinet as Under-Secretary for European Affairs in the office of Prime Minister 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.[11][12][13]

In 2014, Gozi and the French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Désir 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.[14]

On 28 February 2014 he joined the Renzi government, being appointed Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers with responsibility for European policies and for coordinating, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the activities related to the Italian Presidency of the Council of the Union European. For some time close to the radical movement, he is registered with Radicali Italiani for the year 2014 and a member by right of the 2014 National Committee of this association [9]; it is registered and active in Italian Radicals also in the year 2015 [10] [11].

In 2015, Gozi called for a two-speed Europe that would let countries which desired closer integration forge ahead.[15] A year later, he said Italy also wanted a single economy minister for the eurozone answerable to elected governments.[16]

At the 2018 elections Gozi is candidate MP in his native Emilia-Romagna, where he comes third among the PD candidates and is not elected.[17] In November 2018 in Vienna he is elected president of the Union of European Federalists.[18]

In December 2018 he claims to be working, together with Carlo Calenda and +Europa, on a new party for Matteo Renzi aimed at gathering the votes of "moderates" leaving Forza Italia and of disgruntled grillini.[19] On 20 September 2019 he announces his departure towards Italia Viva, Matteo Renzi's new centrist party.

In April 2019, together with the Central Bank of San Marino's president Catia Tomasetti, Gozi is 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".[20][21]

Member of the European Parliament

For the 2019 European elections, 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.[22][23][24] He participates in the elections while remaining a member of the Democratic Party (PSE) in Italy. [25]

Gozi is elected among the five French substitute MEPs who will take the place of British MEPs after brexit date.[26] In the meantime, in late July he is appointed by the government of Édouard Philippe as chargé de mission on European affairs.[26] For this choice he is criticized by Italian politicians, both by representatives of the right-wing government (Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini) and by representatives of his own opposition party (Carlo Calenda).[27][28]

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.[29] Following the controversy, he resigned from office with the French government.[30]

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.[31]

In addition to his committee assignments, Gozi is part of the parliament's delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries.[32]

gollark: Fun osmarkscalculator™ feature: if you do `x = 4`, and then `F[x] = 3`, it'll actually make a rule `F[4] = 3` rather than `F[x] = 3`.
gollark: osmarkscalculator™ even calculates that x^a/x^(a+1) is x^Negate[1] (it does not support unary operators).
gollark: It's just that good.
gollark: osmarkscalculator™ can add it anyway.
gollark: It works generally, but I'm not *entirely* sure why.

References
  1. "Sandro Gozi". The Guardian. 6 June 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  2. CV ufficiale Archived January 26, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Toby Vogel (September 18, 2014), Sandro Gozi – accidental minister European Voice.
  4. "Spunta foto di Gozi nel Fronte della Gioventù. Ma lui: "Avevo 16 anni"". Adnkronos. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  5. "Pd, spunta una foto di Gozi con Almirante e l'iscrizione ai giovani dell'Msi. Lui conferma: "Avevo 16 anni, fu atto di ribellione: finì subito"". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  6. Quentin Raverdy (2019-08-21). "Le trouble passé d'extrême droite d'un conseiller italien d'Édouard Philippe". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  7. Vincent Boland, Guy Dinmore, and Ralph Atkins (March 5, 2010), Italian MP campaigns to support Draghi Financial Times.
  8. Dario Ricci (25 September 2011). "L'ambasciatore di Roma 2020 e i campioni dell'ultratriathlon". A bordo campo (in Italian). Radio24. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  9. Scende in campo il quarto candidato Pd: è Sandro Gozi, capogruppo in Commissione Ue alla Camera
  10. Gozi: 'Rinuncio a candidarmi per una ventina di firme'
  11. Radicali Italiani - Comitato Nazionale 2014 - I membri di diritto del Comitato
  12. Audio intervista di Giovanna Reanda che introduce un Filodiretto di Sandro Gozi su Radio Radicale
  13. Audio intervista del 31 ottobre 2015 a Sandro Gozi a margine del XIV Congresso di Radicali Italiani
  14. Michelle Martin (June 19, 2014), Merkel praises Danish PM, says euro outsider can head EU Council Reuters.
  15. George Parker and Jeevan Vasagar (November 3, 2015), Osborne’s two-speed Europe plan meets Berlin’s approval Financial Times.
  16. Crispian Balmer (January 15, 2016), Renzi's risky criticism of Europe plays to Italian audience Reuters.
  17. "Assegnati gli ultimi seggi del proporzionale: ecco gli 11 parlamentari romagnoli, manca Gozi". CesenaToday (in Italian). 6 March 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  18. "Sandro Gozi eletto come nuovo presidente dei Federalisti europei". CesenaToday (in Italian). 24 November 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  19. "Alleanza, sondaggi e simbolo. La difficile scissione di Renzi", La Repubblica, 27 dicembre 2018
  20. "Consulenza fantasma, Gozi indagato". 15 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  21. "Consulenza fantasma, indagati Catia Tomasetti e Sandro Gozi". 15 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  22. Gregory Viscusi (March 26, 2019) Macron's Party Presents EU List Including Ex-Italian Minister Bloomberg News.
  23. "Sandro Gozi si candida in Francia con Macron". 28 March 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  24. "Arrêté du 3 mai 2019 fixant les listes candidates à l'élection des représentants au Parlement européen des 25 et 26 mai 2019". Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  25. "Europee: Gozi, 'coalizione anti-nazionalista, voto al Pd contro gilet gialloverdi'/Adnkronos". OlbiaNotizie.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  26. RFI
  27. "Sandro Gozi nel governo di Parigi diventa un caso. Lega e M5S all'attacco: "Traditore dell'Italia"". L'HuffPost (in Italian). 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  28. "Un ex-ministre italien au cabinet d'Édouard Philippe : une "trahison" pour Rome". Valeurs actuelles (in French). Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  29. "Sandro Gozi, renziano, assunto dai francesi e ora consulente di Malta. Governo francese: "Dia spiegazioni"". Repubblica.it (in Italian). 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  30. "Francia: Sandro Gozi si dimette da incarico governo Philippe". La Repubblica (in Italian). 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2019-10-24.
  31. Sandro Gozi European Parliament.
  32. Sandro Gozi European Parliament.
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