Paolo De Castro
Paolo De Castro (born February 2, 1958 in San Pietro Vernotico , Brindisi province ) is an Italian politician of the Partito Democratico (PD). He was Minister of Agriculture and Forestry from 1998–2000 and again from 2006–2008. He has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009 .
Career
As the son of an agricultural entrepreneurial family, De Castro has been familiar with the agricultural culture of his home region Salento (the “heel” of the Italian boot) from childhood . So he dealt early with the cultivation of wine , olives , tobacco , cotton and the like. a. and was later able to use his passionate interest to study agricultural science at the University of Bologna . After graduating in 1980, he decided to pursue an academic career and has been teaching in his subject as a full professor in Bologna ever since .
After first political experiences in the Partito Liberale Italiano at a young age, De Castro later joined the center-left alliance L'Ulivo by Romano Prodi . From 1996 to 1998 he was economic advisor to Prodis, who was Italian Prime Minister during this time. From October 1998 to April 2000 he headed the Ministry of Agriculture in the two governments of Massimo D'Alema . He held a further advisory role for Romano Prodi from June to December 2000 when he was President of the European Commission . From 1999 to 2002 De Castro was a member of the social liberal party I Democratici , initiated by Prodi, and then until 2007 with its successor party Democrazia è Libertà - La Margherita .
From 2001 to 2004 he headed the economic institute Nomisma in Bologna and was also chief editor of agricultural science journals ( Rivista di Politica Agricola Internazionale and Genio Rurale ). On the list of the electoral alliance L'Ulivo , De Castro was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in April 2006 , where he represented his home region of Apulia . From May 2006 to May 2008 he was entrusted for the second time with the agriculture department in the center-left Prodi II government . During this time, the Margherita party merged in 2007 with the Democratici di Sinistra to form the center-left rallying party PD, to which De Castro has belonged ever since. In the parliamentary elections in 2008 he was re-elected to the Italian Senate as a representative of Apulia . There he was Deputy Chairman of the Agriculture and Food Committee until his departure in July 2009.
In the European elections in Italy in 2009 , De Castro won a seat in the European Parliament , where he joined the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Social Democrats (S&D). In the 2009-2014 legislative period he was chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development . He was also the delegate for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council and for relations with the United States . After his re-election in 2014 , De Castro continued to serve on the Agriculture Committee (of which he was Vice-Chair from 2017-19) and on the Delegation for relations with the United States. In 2019 he was re-elected for a further term.
Web links
- Personal website (Italian)
- Biography at the Italian Government (Italian)
- Profile at the Italian Chamber of Deputies (Italian)
- Entry on Paolo De Castro in the database of Members of the European Parliament
Individual evidence
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Michele Pinto | Italian Minister of Agriculture and Forestry October 21, 1998-25. April 2000 |
Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio |
| Gianni Alemanno | Italian Minister of Agriculture and Forestry May 17, 2006–8. May 2008 |
Luca Zaia |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | De Castro, Paolo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian politician (PD), Minister of Agriculture, MEP |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 2, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | San Pietro Vernotico , Brindisi Province |