Romano Prodi

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Romano Prodi (2014)
Signature of Romano Prodi

Romano Prodi (born August 9, 1939 in Scandiano , RE ) is an Italian economist and politician (first DC , then L'Ulivo , from 2007 PD ). From 1996 to 1998 and from 2006 to 2008 he was Italian Prime Minister . From September 1999 to November 2004, Prodi was President of the European Commission .

Life

Romano Prodi is one of nine children of the engineer Mario Prodi and the teacher Enrica Prodi. His brothers include the mathematician Giovanni Prodi and the physicist Vittorio Prodi . After graduating from high school, he studied law in Milan and graduated with honors in 1961. He then went on to postgraduate courses in Milan, Bologna and at the London School of Economics . From 1963 he was a research associate, from 1966 a lecturer and from 1971 to 1999 professor of economics and industrial policy at the University of Bologna . In the mid-1970s, Prodi was temporarily managing director of the sports car manufacturer Maserati . Romano Prodi has been married to the university lecturer Flavia Prodi Franzoni since 1969 and has two adult sons Giorgio and Antonio.

Prodi with President Sandro Pertini and Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti (1978)

Prodi was initially politically active in the Christian Democratic Democrazia Cristiana . In 1978 Giulio Andreotti appointed him to his cabinet as Minister of Industry. In 1979, after his resignation, Prodi initially returned to teaching.

Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale

From 1984 to 1995, with an interruption between 1989 and 1993, he was President of the IRI , the largest state-owned holding company in Italy. After the reorganization, restructuring and privatization of several subsidiaries during his first time, he helped with the privatization of other companies in his second business run. Between 1990 and 1993, Prodi led the consulting firm Analisi e Studi Economici . This company, which Prodi shares with his wife, earned £ 1.4m during that time; The main customer was Goldman Sachs , and Goldman Sachs was also involved in two mergers for which Prodi was responsible in his subsequent second term as IRI President.

Founding of L'Ulivo, first term as Prime Minister (1996–98)

Prodi was a staunch opponent of the construction and media entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi , who appeared on the political stage in 1993/94, founded his right-wing populist party Forza Italia and was elected prime minister of a center-right coalition just a few weeks later. However, this broke up again after a few months in office. To prevent Berlusconi from being re-elected, Prodi initiated a broad center-left alliance called L'Ulivo ("The Olive Tree") in February / March 1995 . Its main pillars were the Partito Democratico della Sinistra (PDS, "Democratic Left Party" - former communists who had turned into Social Democrats after 1989) and the Partito Popolare Italiano (PPI, emerged from the rump of the Democrazia Cristiana, which collapsed in 1994), the Prodi still belonged, but in which he had no office or mandate. However, the PPI split over the question of whether to support Prodi: the right wing left the party and joined Berlusconi. There were also numerous small parties from liberals to communists. Although he did not hold a party office, Prodi was named Leader (i.e. unofficial leader) and candidate for prime minister of L'Ulivo. Non- party supporters of Prodi organized themselves in the Comitati per l'Italia che vogliamo (“Committees for the Italy we want”), colloquially called Comitati Prodi (“Prodi Committees”).

Romano Prodi (1996)

Prodi presented himself as a complete counterpart to Berlusconi: if the “Cavaliers” from Milan appeared aggressive, the “Professore” from Bologna had a calming effect. Berlusconi polemicized, Prodi called for dialogue. While one was being glorified, the other was deliberately modest. Instead of traveling in a private jet, Prodi traveled across the country in a bus. While Berlusconi adorned himself with his soccer club AC Milan, Prodi liked to talk about his hobby cycling. The press dubbed him the "anti-Berlusconi". For the early parliamentary election in April 1996 , Prodi headed the Popolari per Prodi list (consisting of PPI, PRI , Unione Democratica, South Tyrolean People's Party and the Comitati Prodi). Although this only got 6.8% of the vote and 72 seats, the L'Ulivo block narrowly won the election overall. Prodi himself moved into the House of Representatives through a direct mandate in Bologna.

On May 18, 1996 he was sworn in as prime minister of a center-left coalition. In parliament, this was also dependent on the votes of the Orthodox-Communist Rifondazione Comunista . His rigorous austerity measures and an agreement in which Italy promised to preferentially buy milk from Germany made it possible for Italy to join the monetary union . In autumn 1998, the Rifondazione Comunista Prodi withdrew its support. After losing a vote of confidence , he resigned on October 21, 1998. The cabinet was only reorganized, however, the center-left coalition remained in government, now under the leadership of Massimo D'Alema (who was also able to win the support of some of the communists again).

In February 1999 Prodi took part in the founding of the I Democratici party , whose model was the Democratic Party of the USA (which was also recognizable by the party symbol, a donkey). In this the Comitati Prodi, the small social-liberal Unione Democratica, the anti-corruption and anti-Mafia parties Italia dei Valori and La Rete as well as a network of mayors were absorbed; but not the two major parties of the L'Ulivo alliance PDS and PPI. In the 1999 European elections , I Democratici won 7.7% of the vote and joined the Liberal Group .

EU Commission President (1999-2004)

EU Commission President Prodi in Moscow (2002)

On March 24, 1999, Prodi was nominated by the heads of government of the EU members as President of the European Commission and succeeded Jacques Santer on September 15, 1999 , after the European Parliament had confirmed the appointment.

On December 22, 2003, two pipe bombs detonated in front of him and on December 27, 2003 a letter bomb detonated in his private apartment in Bologna. Prodi survived all attacks unharmed. The police assume perpetrators from anarchist circles . The most important events of his term of office were the accession negotiations and the admission of ten new states to the EU on May 1, 2004.

However, Prodi's second term of office did not find strong supporters in the European Council - probably also because Prodi was open to becoming leader of the left-wing alliance in Italy again. In June 2004, explorations began on his successor in the EU. In November 2004 he was succeeded by José Manuel Barroso as President of the Commission.

Prodi has received numerous academic degrees around the world and has published many articles on economics and industrial policy.

Second term as Prime Minister (2006-08)

On October 16, 2005, Romano Prodi was chosen as the top candidate of the center-left alliance L'Ulivo for the 2006 parliamentary elections in a nationwide general area code with over 70% . In the parliamentary elections on April 9 and 10, 2006, Prodi's center-left alliance L'Unione received a comfortable majority in parliament and a very narrow majority in the Senate. He succeeded Berlusconi in the office of Prime Minister and headed his second cabinet since May 17, 2006 .

On February 21, 2007 he submitted his resignation as Italian Prime Minister after his future foreign policy line (withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq , but remaining in Afghanistan ) had not found a majority in parliament. However, the Italian President Napolitano did not accept the resignation. On February 24, 2007, he announced that he would neither dissolve the Prodi government nor call new elections. Prodi was ready to continue to take responsibility for Italy. Quote Romano Prodi: “I will put myself in the parliamentary chambers for a vote of confidence [...] with renewed momentum and a closed coalition that is determined to help the country in this difficult phase and to encourage further economic upswing as soon as possible lead that has already started. "

On February 28 and March 2, 2007, Prodi finally won the votes of confidence in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies with 162 votes to 157 and 342 votes to 253. This allowed Prodi's center-left alliance to continue its work.

From January 17, 2008, Prodi also headed the Ministry of Justice , as the previous Minister of Justice Clemente Mastella resigned on allegations of corruption and his party UDEUR had left the government coalition. On January 21, 2008, the UDEUR withdrew its support from the Prodi government and plunged Italy into a government crisis. The vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies , scheduled two days later , was won by Prodi. In contrast, he lost the vote in the Senate on January 24, 2008 and then submitted his resignation. In the early parliamentary elections in mid-April 2008, Romano Prodi no longer ran. According to his own statements, he intends to limit his political activity in the future to working in the newly founded Partito Democratico , where he held the more representative office of party president from April 14, 2007 to April 16, 2008. On March 10, 2008, Prodi announced to the Italian news channel SKY TG24 that it had closed with Italian politics and perhaps with politics in general.

After 2008

Romano Prodi (2016)

On October 6, 2012, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed him as UN Special Envoy for the Sahel .

In 2013 the Partito Democratico nominated Prodi for the office of Italian president after the first candidate of the center-left parties, Franco Marini , failed to prevail in the united chambers of parliament. However, Prodi missed an absolute majority in the fourth ballot on April 19, 2013, whereupon he withdrew his candidacy.

Lobbying

Romano Prodi has been criticized for his involvement in lobbying activities for the former Ukrainian ruler Viktor Yanukovych , for whose government he is said to have been paid together with the former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer around 2012 (see: Hapsburg Group ). Furthermore, Prodi, again at Gusenbauer's side, is supposed to lobby for the controversial ruler of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev .

Honors

Web links

Commons : Romano Prodi  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Romano Prodi  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Blaube: Better knowledge with Wolfgang Blaube: Romano Prodi was Maserati boss . Oldtimer Markt, issue 11/2015, p. 22.
  2. ^ Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Italians claim country run by Goldman Sachs , Telegraph Media Group . June 19, 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2013. 
  3. ^ A b Patrick McCarthy: Italy. A Society in Search of a State. In: Ronald Tiersky: Europe Today. National Politics, European Integration, and European Security. 2nd edition, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham (MD) 2004, pp. 345-384, at p. 373.
  4. ^ Stefan Köppl: The political system of Italy. An introduction. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 152.
  5. ^ Gino Moliterno: Encyclopedia of Contemporary Italian Culture. Routledge, London / New York 2000, p. 852, entry Ulivo .
  6. ^ Patrick McCarthy: The languages ​​of politics. From politichese to the 'discourse of serenity'. In: Luciano Cheles, Lucio Sponza: The Art of Persuasion. Political Communication in Italy from 1945 to the 1990s. Manchester University Press, Manchester / New York 2001, pp. 196-210, at pp. 196, 204.
  7. ↑ Euro Breakup Talk Increases as Germany Looses Proxy ( Memento from May 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) - Bloomberg Business from May 14, 2010 (via Internet Archive ).
  8. ^ Corriere della Sera, January 21, 2008 (Italian)
  9. ↑ Prodi wins first vote of confidence
  10. ↑ Lost trust - Prodi files resignation. n-tv Nachrichtenfernsehen GmbH, January 24, 2008, accessed on November 29, 2015 .
  11. ^ Prodi: "Non mi ricandido" Corriere della Sera, February 6, 2008
  12. ↑ SKY TG24, March 10, 2008 - according to WP-it also: "Prodi, lascio la politica ma il mondo è pieno di occasioni", ANSA announcement of March 9, 2008
  13. ^ Spiegel Online : Presidential election in Italy: Prodi withdraws candidacy , April 19, 2013.
  14. ^ "Gusenbauer confirms payment for Ukraine lobbying" NZZ from February 25, 2018
  15. ^ Honorary doctorate for Romano Prodi ( memento of February 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) - MDR
personal data
SURNAME Prodi, Romano
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian Prime Minister and President of the EU Commission
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Scandiano , Italy