The Draghi government was the 67th government of the

Italian Republic Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, led by former

President of the European Central Bank The president of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the main institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the Eurozone of the European Union (EU) The current president of ...

Mario Draghi Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, banker, statesman, and civil servant, who served as the prime minister of Italy from 13 February 2021 to 22 October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime mi ...

. It was in office between 13 February 2021 and 22 October 2022. The Draghi government was formed following the resignation of Prime Minister

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 ...

in the midst of a

political crisis A cabinet crisis, government crisis or political crisis refers to a situation where an incumbent government is unable to form or function, is toppled through an uprising, or collapses. Political crises may correspond with, cause or be caused by an ...

which led to the Conte government losing its majority. After consultations with political parties,

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Sergio Mattarella Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician and jurist who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 20 ...

tasked Draghi with forming a "high-profile" government. Mattarella stated that the new government would have to face the health, economic and social crises related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, as well as overseeing the EU relief fund associated with it. The Draghi government was described as 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 na ...

by numerous news sources. The choice by Mattarella to appoint Draghi as Prime Minister was welcomed by some international observers, with others casting doubt on the stability of a new technocratic government. The Draghi Government was formed with both politicians and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

technocrats Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...

, and was supported by a large majority of the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

, including the anti-establishment

Five Star Movement The Five Star Movement ( , M5S) is a political party in Italy, led by Giuseppe Conte. It was launched on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a political activist and comedian, and Gianroberto Casaleggio, a web strategist. The party is primarily d ...

(M5S), the right-wing

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 * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

(Lega), the centre-right

Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...

(FI), the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), the centrist

Italia Viva Italia Viva (, IV) is a Liberalism, liberal list of political parties in Italy, 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 ( ...

(IV), and the leftist Article One (Art.1). On 21 July 2022, following M5S, Lega and FI's withdrawal of their support to the government, Prime Minister Draghi submitted his resignation. The government continued to operate as a

caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...

until the next government formation following the

2022 Italian general election Snap election, Snap general elections were held in Italy on 25 September 2022. After the fall of the Draghi government, which led to a parliamentary impasse, President of Italy, President Sergio Mattarella dissolved Parliament on 21 July, and ca ...

on 25 September.

Supporting parties

Beginning of term

At the time of the government formation, its ministers were part of the following parties.

End of term

After 1 August 2022 the government was composed of the following parties. On 21 June 2022,

Luigi Di Maio Luigi Di Maio (; born 6 July 1986) is an Italian politician who has been serving as European Union Special Representative, EU Special Representative for the Persian Gulf, Gulf region since 1 June 2023. Di Maio also served as Italian Minister of ...

led a breakaway group outside of the M5S and formed

Together for the Future Together for the Future (, IpF) was a centrist political party in Italy, which for all of its existence was active solely as a parliamentary group. Its founder and leader was Luigi Di Maio. All of its parliamentary members were elected for the Five ...

, which confirmed its support for the government.

Mariastella Gelmini Mariastella Gelmini (born 1 July 1973) is an Italian politician and attorney (specialised in administrative law). She served as Italian Minister of Education in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet until 16 November 2011. She served as minister of Regiona ...

Renato Brunetta Renato Brunetta (born 15 May 1950) is an Italian economist and politician. He was the Minister of Public Administration and Innovation from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011 in the Berlusconi government. He was also the Minister for Public Admin ...

and

Mara Carfagna Maria Rosaria "Mara" Carfagna (born 18 December 1975) is an politics of Italy, Italian politician and former showgirl and model. After obtaining a degree in law, Carfagna worked for several years on Italian television shows and as a model. She l ...

left FI on 21, 22 and 26 July, respectively. On 29 July, Gelmini and Carfagna joined Action. On 30 July,

Federico D'Incà Federico D'Incà (born 10 February 1976) is an Italian politician, who is member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Five Star Movement. On 5 September 2019, he was appointed as Minister for Parliamentary Relations in the Conte II Cabinet. Early ...

left the M5S, and on 1 August he founded Environment 2050 alongside deputy Davide Crippa.

History

Background

On 13 January 2021, Italia Viva (IV) withdrew its support for the

second Conte government The second Conte government was the 66th government of the Italy, Italian Republic and the second government led by Giuseppe Conte. The government was sworn in on 5 September 2019 to 13 February 2021. The government was supported by the anti-es ...

, triggering a political crisis. Conte subsequently won confidence motions in both houses of Parliament, with the abstention of IV, but could only reach a

plurality Plurality may refer to: Law and politics * Plurality decision, in a decision by a multi-member court, an opinion held by more judges than any other but not by an overall majority * Plurality (voting), when a candidate or proposition polls more ...

in the Senate, rather than an absolute majority. In the wake of this, Conte tendered his resignation to President Mattarella, who then began a round of discussions with various parties to form a new government.

Government formation

Mattarella met with delegations of political parties on 28 and 29 January to determine their views on the formation of a new government. The

(M5S), Democratic Party (PD), Free and Equal (LeU),

For the Autonomies For the Autonomies (, Aut) is a heterogeneous, mostly centrist, centre-left and regionalist, parliamentary group which has been active, with slightly different names and compositions, in the Italian Senate since 2001. History The group was for ...

Europeanists Europeanists () is a political party in Italy. Amid a government crisis triggered after Matteo Renzi announced that he would revoke Italia Viva's support to the government of Giuseppe Conte, Europeanists formed on 27 January 2021 as a component of ...

, and some members of the

Mixed Group The mixed group (, GM) is a parliamentary group active in both houses of the Italian Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. ...

all expressed support for the reappointment of Conte as Prime Minister, but IV ruled this out. The centre-right and right-wing parties, the

(Lega),

(FI) and the

Brothers of Italy Brothers of Italy (, FdI) is a National conservatism, national-conservative and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Italy, that is currently the country's ruling party. After becoming the largest party in the 2022 Ita ...

(FdI), stated that they preferred a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...

, but would be willing to join a

under certain conditions. Following this deadlock, Mattarella asked

Roberto Fico Roberto Fico (; born 10 October 1974) is an Italian politician and member of the Five Star Movement. He served as the Chairman of the RAI Supervision Commission from 2013 to 2018 and President of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), President of the ...

, the

President of the Chamber of Deputies 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

, to explore the possibility of a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

government. On 2 February, Fico confirmed that there was insufficient support for the proposal. Governo Draghi

With the prospect of early elections looming, on 3 February Mattarella invited former ECB President

to the Quirinal Palace to charge him to forming a national unity government. Draghi accepted the offer, and began consultations with the leaders of political parties. Conte publicly endorsed him as his successor the following day, and further negotiations commenced. On 10 February, League leader

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of F ...

and FI leader

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

jointly announced their support for Draghi. Conversely, FdI leader

Giorgia Meloni Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy since 2022. She is the first woman to hold the office. A member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies since 2006, s ...

stated that her party would go into opposition. The PD's national board unanimously voted on 11 February to support Draghi. The same day, the M5S held an online

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on whether to "support a technical-political government with the other political forces indicated by the appointed prime minister Mario Draghi", which was approved by 59.3%. Having achieved sufficient support, on 12 February Draghi met with President Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace and presented his list of ministers. The Draghi government was sworn in on the following day, 13 February, at 11:00 AM UTC. The government was composed of twenty-four ministers, eight women and sixteen men, most of them from Northern Italy, largely from

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

and

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

; it contained representatives from all supportive political parties, as well as numerous independent technocrats.

Investiture vote

On 17 February 2021, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

approved the Draghi government with 262 votes in favour, 40 against and 2 abstentions. The following day, the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

affirmed its support, with 535 votes in favour, 56 against and 5 abstentions. This was the third largest majority garnered by a government in the history of the Italian Republic after the

Monti government The Monti government was the sixty-first government of Italy and was announced on 16 November 2011. This Experts' cabinet was composed of independents, three of whom were women and was formed as an interim government. The government ran the cou ...

and after the fourth Andreotti government.

Government crisis and collapse

In July 2022, the M5S did not participate to a confidence vote in the Senate on a government bill, the so-called ''decreto aiuti'', regarding a €27 billion economic aid to counteract the energy and economy crisis. Prime Minister Draghi offered his resignation, which was rejected by President Mattarella. After a few days, on 20 July, Draghi spoke to the Senate again, seeking a confidence vote again to secure the government majority supporting his cabinet, while rejecting the proposal put forward by Lega and FI on a new government without the M5S. In that occasion, the M5S, Lega and FI, three major parties which were supporting the Draghi government, withdrew their support. Consequently, Draghi tendered his final resignation to President Mattarella, who dissolved the houses of Parliament, leading to an early election in September 2022, and asked Draghi to stay in office to handle current affairs (as is customary in Italian politics) until a new government could be formed following the upcoming general election.

Party breakdown

Beginning of term

Ministers

Ministers and other members

* Independents: Prime minister, 8 ministers, 3 undersecretaries *

(M5S): 4 ministers, 2 deputy ministers, 9 undersecretaries *

(Lega): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 8 undersecretaries * Democratic Party (PD): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 5 undersecretaries *

(FI): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 5 undersecretaries *

(IV): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 1 undersecretary * Article One (Art.1): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary * Democratic Centre (CD): 1 undersecretary *

Us with Italy Us with Italy (, NcI) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative and Christian democracy, Christian-democratic political party in Italy. NcI started as a federation of minor centre-right parties and, as such, was part of the Centre-right ...

(NcI): 1 undersecretary *

More Europe More Europe ( or ''+Europa''; +E or +Eu) is a liberal and pro-European political party in Italy, part of the centre-left coalition and member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. History Foundation More Europe was laun ...

(+E): 1 undersecretary

End of term

Ministers

Ministers and other members

* Independents: Prime minister, 9 ministers, 2 undersecretaries *

(Lega): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 8 undersecretaries * Democratic Party (PD): 3 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 5 undersecretaries *

(M5S): 2 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 5 undersecretaries *

Action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

(A): 2 ministers *

(IpF): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 4 undersecretaries *

(IV): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 1 undersecretary * Article One (Art.1): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary * Environment 2050 (A2050): 1 minister *

(FI): 1 deputy minister, 6 undersecretaries * Democratic Centre (CD): 1 undersecretary *

(NcI): 1 undersecretary *

(+E): 1 undersecretary

Geographical breakdown

Northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

: 18 ministers **

: 9 ministers **

: 4 ministers **

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

: 2 ministers **

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

: 1 minister **

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

: 1 minister **

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

: 1 minister *

Central Italy Central Italy ( or ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region with code ITI, and a European Parliament constituency. It has 11,704,312 inhabita ...

: 2 ministers (including Draghi) **

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

: 2 ministers (including Draghi) * Southern and

Insular Italy Insular Italy ( or just , ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first level NUTS region and a European Parliament constituency. Insular Italy encompasses two of th ...

: 4 ministers **

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

: 2 ministers **

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

: 2 ministers

Council of Ministers

The

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

is composed of the following members:

Composition

References

{{EU governments 2021 establishments in Italy Italian governments Cabinets established in 2021

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

Cabinets disestablished in 2022