Giuseppe Conte (cropped)

Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) since August 2021.

Conte spent the greater part of his career as a private law professor and was also a member of the Italian Bureau of Administrative Justice from 2013 to 2018. Following the 2018 Italian general election, he was proposed as the independent leader of a coalition government between the M5S and the League, despite his having never held any political position before. After both parties agreed on a programme of government, he was sworn in as prime minister on 1 June by President Sergio Mattarella, appointing the M5S and League leaders as his joint deputies. In August 2019, the League filed a motion of no confidence in the coalition government and Conte offered to resign as prime minister; the M5S and the Democratic Party agreed to form a new government, with Conte remaining at its head. This made Conte the first prime minister to lead two separate Italian governments made up of right-wing and left-wing coalition partners.

Despite having begun his political career as a technocrat, appointed to implement the government programme of M5S and the League, during the final months of his first cabinet and throughout his second one Conte became an increasingly influential and popular figure in Italian politics. During his premiership, he introduced important reforms including the introduction of a guaranteed minimum income, a constitutional reform to reduce the number of parliamentarians, nationalizations of ASPI (Italy's highway company), Alitalia (the Italian flag carrier), and Ilva (Italy's largest steel company), as well as a stricter policy towards illegal immigration. In 2020, Italy became one of the countries worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. His government was the first in the Western world to implement a national lockdown to stop the spread of the disease. Despite being widely approved by public opinion, the lockdown was also described as the largest suppression of constitutional rights in the history of the Italian Republic, although the Constitution itself authorizes such measures in case of public health concerns. Conte's extensive use of prime ministerial decrees to impose restrictions aimed at containing the pandemic gave rise to criticism from journalists, political analysts, and opposition politicians, even if it was widely appreciated by public opinion, as shown by several opinion polls. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was especially severe in Italy. In July 2020, to assist with the COVID-19 recession, Conte and other European leaders approved the Next Generation EU package, by which Italy will receive 209 billion euros in grants and loans from the European Recovery Fund.

When Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva withdrew its support for Conte's government, it started the 2021 Italian government crisis in January. Although Conte was able to win confidence votes in Parliament in the subsequent days, he chose to resign after failing to reach an absolute majority in the Senate. When negotiations to form Conte's third cabinet failed, the former president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi was asked to form a national unity government.

Conte was the fifth prime minister appointed without prior political experience, after Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Silvio Berlusconi, Lamberto Dini, and Mario Monti, as well as the first from Southern Italy since Ciriaco De Mita in 1989. Conte was also the longest-serving independent prime minister in the history of Italy, even though he was widely seen as close to the M5S. Because of his leadership style, Conte has often been considered one of the leading examples of techno-populism, while his first cabinet was described by many publications, such as ''The New York Times'' and ''la Repubblica'', as the "first modern populist government in Western Europe". Conte has often been called "the people's lawyer" (''l'avvocato del popolo''), as he described himself during his first speech as prime minister.

Early life and career

Conte was born on 8 August 1964 into a middle-class family at Volturara Appula, near Foggia. His father Nicola was a public employee in the local municipality, while his mother Lillina Roberti was an elementary school teacher.

After his family moved to San Giovanni Rotondo, Conte attended the Classical Lyceum "Pietro Giannone" in San Marco in Lamis and then studied law at the Sapienza University of Rome, where he graduated in 1988, with honours. In 1992, he formally qualified as a lawyer, before, for a short term, studying abroad. In the same year, he moved to the United States to study at Yale Law School and Duquesne University, and at the International Culture Institute in Vienna in 1993. He later researched or lectured at Sorbonne University in 2000, Girton College, Cambridge in 2001 and New York University in 2008.

He began his academic career during the 1990s when he taught at Roma Tre University, at LUMSA University in Rome, at the University of Malta, and at the University of Sassari in Sardinia. Conte is currently professor of private law at the University of Florence and at Rome's LUISS. He sits on the board of trustees of John Cabot University in Rome. Conte's claim to have completed studies at New York University has been questioned, with the institution stating that "A person by this name does not show up in any of our records as either a student or faculty member."

In 2010 and 2011, Conte served on the board of directors of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and in 2012 he was appointed by the Bank of Italy as a member of the "Banking and Financial Arbitrage" commission. He served also in the scientific committee of the Italian Foundation of Notaries.

On 18 September 2013, he was elected by the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the Bureau of Administrative Justice, the self-governing body of administrative magistrates, on which he also served as vice president.

Prime Minister of Italy (2018–2021)

2018 government formation

In February 2018, Conte was suggested by Luigi Di Maio, leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S), as a possible Minister of the Public Administration in his potential cabinet following the 2018 Italian general election; the election resulted in a hung parliament, as M5S became the party with the largest number of votes and of parliamentary seats, while the centre-right coalition, led by Matteo Salvini's League and other right-wing parties, emerged with a plurality of seats, receiving more votes together but without an absolute majority, in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate. The centre-left coalition led by former prime minister Matteo Renzi came in third.

On 9 May, following weeks of political deadlock and the failure of various attempts of forming cabinets both between M5S and the centre-right and the Democratic Party (PD), Di Maio and Salvini responded to President Sergio Mattarella's ultimatum to put together a neutral technocratic caretaker-led government by officially requesting that he give them 24 more hours to achieve a governing agreement between their two parties. In the evening of that same day, Silvio Berlusconi publicly announced that Forza Italia would not support a M5S–League government on a vote of confidence, but he would still back the centre-right alliance, thus opening the doors to a possible majority government between the two parties.

On 13 May, M5S and the League reached an agreement in principle on a government programme, possibly clearing the way for the formation of a governing coalition between the two parties but could not reach an agreement on the members of a governing cabinet, most importantly the Prime Minister. M5S and League leaders met with President Sergio Mattarella on 14 May to shape a new government. At their meeting with President Mattarella, both parties asked for an additional week of negotiations to agree a detailed government programme and a prime minister to lead their joint government. Both M5S and the League announced their intention to ask their respective members to vote on the government agreement by the weekend.

On 21 May, Conte was proposed by Di Maio and Salvini for the role of prime minister in the 2018 Italian government, despite reports in the Italian press suggesting that President Mattarella still had significant reservations about the direction of the new government. On 23 May, Conte was invited to the Quirinal Palace to receive the presidential mandate to form a new cabinet. In the traditional statement after the appointment, Conte said that he would be the "defense lawyer of the Italian people".

On 27 May, Conte resigned his office because of disagreements between Salvini and President Mattarella. Salvini proposed the university professor Paolo Savona as Minister of Economy and Finances, but Mattarella strongly opposed him, considering Savona too Eurosceptic and anti-German. In his speech after Conte's resignation, Mattarella declared that the two parties wanted to bring Italy out of the Eurozone and, as the guarantor of the Italian Constitution and the country's interest and stability, he could not allow this.

On the following day, Mattarella gave Carlo Cottarelli, a former director of the International Monetary Fund, the task of forming a new government. On 28 May, the Democratic Party (PD) announced that it would abstain from a vote of confidence in Cottarelli, while the M5S and the center-right parties Forza Italia (FI), Brothers of Italy (FdI) and the League, said they would vote against him.

Cottarelli was expected to submit his list of ministers for approval to President Mattarella on 29 May. On that and the following day, he held only informal consultations with the President, waiting for the formation of a "political government". Meanwhile, Salvini and Di Maio announced their willingness to restart the negotiations to form a political government and Giorgia Meloni, leader of FdI, gave her support to this initiative. On 31 May, M5S and the League declared they had reached an agreement to form a new government without Savona as finance minister (he would become Minister of European Affairs) and with Conte at its head.

First Conte Cabinet

On 1 June 2018, Conte officially succeeded the Democrat Paolo Gentiloni as the head of the Italian government and was sworn in as the new prime minister. His cabinet was predominantly composed of members of the M5S and the League, but also of prominent independent technocrats like the Minister of Foreign Affairs Enzo Moavero Milanesi, who previously served as the Minister of European Affairs in the government of Mario Monti, the university professor Giovanni Tria as the minister of economy and finances and economist Paolo Savona, who served in the cabinet of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in the 1990s and is currently known for his Eurosceptic views, who became the new Minister of European Affairs.

Party leaders Salvini and Di Maio were both appointed Deputy Prime Ministers. While Salvini became Minister of the Interior, with the main aim of drastically reducing the number of illegal immigrants, Di Maio served as Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Social Policies responsible for introducing the universal basic income.

The coalition of the two populist parties which Conte led was also known as the Government of Change, because of a document that summarized the electoral programmes of the two parties, which was called "Contract for the Government of Change".

During his speech before the investiture vote in the Italian Senate on 5 June, Conte stressed his wish to reduce illegal immigration and increase the pressure on human traffickers and smugglers. He also advocated a fight against political corruption, the introduction of a law which regulates the conflict of interests, a new bill which expands the right of self-defense, a reduction in taxes and a drastic cut in money going to elected politicians and government bureaucrats. Conte also proposed to lift the international sanctions against Russia.

The Senate backed the confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies, voting 171 in favor and 117 against, with 25 abstentions. The cabinet was supported by M5S, Lega, two senators from Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE) and two independents while the Democratic Party (PD), Forza Italia (FI), Free and Equal (LeU) and other small leftist parties voted against it. The far-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) and another ten independent senators abstained. On the following day, he received 350 votes in favour out of 630 in the Chamber of Deputies, 236 votes against and 35 abstained. As in the Senate, in the Chamber of Deputies PD, FI and LeU voted against the government, while FdI abstained. Besides M5S and League, Conte received two votes from independent deputies and one vote from Vittorio Sgarbi, a notable and controversial member of Forza Italia who has always heavily criticised M5S, but decided to support the cabinet in support of Salvini, and with the hope that a M5S government could lead to the party's failure.

On 5 February 2019, Conte became acting Minister of European Affairs after the resignation of Paolo Savona, who was elected President of the Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB). He held the ''ad interim'' office until 10 July 2019, when he appointed Lorenzo Fontana as the new minister.

Resignation and reappointment

In August 2019, after growing tensions within the majority, Deputy Prime Minister Salvini entered a motion of no confidence against Conte. Many political analysts believe the no-confidence motion was an attempt to force early elections to improve the Lega's standing in Parliament, to enable Salvini to become the next prime minister. On 20 August, following a parliamentary debate in the Senate, in which Conte accused Salvini of being a political opportunist who "had triggered the political crisis only to serve his personal interest", he said: "this government ends here". The Prime Minister resigned his post to President Mattarella.

Subsequently, during a round of consultations between Mattarella and the parliamentary groupings, a possible new majority emerged between the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party. On 28 August, at the Quirinal Palace, the PD leader Nicola Zingaretti announced his support for keeping Giuseppe Conte as the head of the new government. Mattarella then summoned Conte to the Quirinal Palace on 29 August to ask him to form a new cabinet. On 4 September, Conte announced the ministers of his new cabinet, which was sworn in at the Quirinal Palace the following day. On 9 September 2019, the Chamber of Deputies expressed its confidence in the new government with 343 votes in favor, 263 against and 3 abstentions. On 10 September 2019, in the second vote of confidence in the Senate, 169 voted in favour of the Conte government and 133 against.

On 16 September, a few days from the investiture vote, in an interview with ''la Repubblica'', former prime minister Matteo Renzi announced his intention to leave the PD, launching a new centrist and liberal party named Italia Viva (IV). In the interview he confirmed also the support to Conte's government. Two ministers and one undersecretary followed Renzi to his new movement.

In December 2019, the Minister of Education, Universities and Research Lorenzo Fioramonti resigned after disagreements with the rest of the cabinet over the recently approved 2020 budget bill. Fioramonti considered the share of funds dedicated to education and research to be insufficient. Conte took the ministerial role ''ad interim'', and announced his decision to split the Ministry of Education, University and Research into two: a Ministry of Public Education led by former undersecretary Lucia Azzolina (M5S), and a Ministry of University and Research led by the dean of the University of Naples Federico II Gaetano Manfredi (Independent), who were sworn in on 10 January.

2021 government crisis and resignation

Between December 2020 and January 2021, discussions arose within the government coalition between Conte and Matteo Renzi, former prime minister and leader of Italia Viva. Renzi called for radical changes to the government's economic recovery plans after the COVID-19 pandemic, and also demanded that Conte cede his mandate over the secret services coordination task. During his end-of-year press conference, Conte declined Renzi's requests, asserting that he still had a majority in the Parliament.

During a press conference on 13 January, Renzi announced the resignation of IV's two ministers, effectively triggering the collapse of Conte's government. Conte was soon backed by many members of his cabinet, like Dario Franceschini, Luigi Di Maio, Roberto Speranza, Stefano Patuanelli, Alfonso Bonafede, Vincenzo Spadafora and Riccardo Fraccaro. On the following day, Conte took the ''ad interim'' roles of Minister of Agriculture and Minister for Family.

On 18 January 2021, the government won the vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies with 321 votes in favour, 259 against and 27 abstentions. On the following day, Conte won a vote of confidence in the Senate too, with 156 votes in favor, 140 against and 16 abstentions; however, despite being externally supported by two dissident members of Forza Italia and three senators for life, the government was not able to reach an absolute majority in the upper house. On 26 January, after a few days of inconclusive negotiations with centrist and independent senators, Conte resigned as prime minister. In a statement posted on his Facebook page, he stated: "We have been going through a phase of real emergency. The widespread suffering of citizens, deep social unrest and economic difficulties require a clear perspective and a government that has a wider and more secure majority." The Prime Minister also demanded the formation of a national salvation government.

At the end of the consultations, President Mattarella gave the president of the Chamber Roberto Fico the task of verifying the possibility of a new government with the same majority of the previous one, composed by M5S, PD, IV and LeU. However, on 2 February, Italia Viva broke away from the majority due to disagreements on both platform and cabinet members, leading Fico to head back to Mattarella with a negative outcome. Following the unsuccessful government formation, Mattarella gave Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank, the task of forming a new cabinet. On the following day, Conte met Draghi. On 4 February, during a brief declaration in front of Chigi Palace, Conte officially endorsed Draghi, asking M5S, PD and LeU to support the former ECB President and join his government. Conte also presented himself as a possible leader of the M5S–PD–LeU coalition which, according to him, must continue to cooperate, even after the end of his government.

Policies

Economic policies

On economic and fiscal issues, one of the main proposals of his first government was a reform of the Italian tax system, with the introduction of a 15% rate flat tax for small entrepreneurs and self-employed with an amount of annual revenues less than €65,000. Though this "flat regime" was a proposal from the right-wing League, it was also confirmed by Conte's second government, which had a centre-left bias.

During his first cabinet, Conte's government rolled out what is known as the citizens' income (), a system of social welfare provision that provides a basic income and assistance in finding a job to help poor people and families. The income was set at a maximum of €780 per month, and in its first year the programme had almost 2.7 million applications. The bill was later confirmed by Conte's second cabinet.

In September 2019, at the head of his second government, Conte launched a "Green New Deal", named after the analogous US proposed legislation that aimed to address climate change and economic inequality. In the same period, he praised students who protested against climate change, saying: "The images from the squares during the Fridays for Future are extraordinary, with so many young people participating with such passion. On the part of the government, there is the utmost commitment to translate this request for change into concrete solutions. We all have a great responsibility for this."

In February 2020, Conte appointed Mariana Mazzucato as his economic counselor. Mazzucato, a professor at University College London, is considered one of the most prominent supporters of state intervensionism.

In April 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, Conte became the most vocal supporter of issuing Eurobonds to assist with the crisis, describing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) as "completely inadequate". Conte found key allies in France, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Luxembourg, which demanded more be done to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic; while Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Estonia strongly opposed the eurobonds. Conte, during an interview with German weekly ''Die Zeit'', questioned: "What do we want to do in Europe? Does each member state want to go its own way?", He also added: "If we are a union, now is the time to prove it." On 8 April, he stated "we should loosen the European fiscal rules, otherwise we would have to cancel Europe and everyone will go their own way." On 23 April, the European Council agreed on a ESM without conditionality to sustain direct and indirect healthcare costs and the implementation of the a recovery fund to help with post-COVID reconstruction.

On 13 May, the Council of Ministers approved the so-called "Relaunch decree", with a budget of nearly €55 billion. This decree included "emergency income" for lower-income families, self-employed workers and economics aid to businesses.

From 13 to 21 June 2020, Prime Minister Conte organized a conference called ''Progettiamo il Rilancio'' (''We Plan the Relaunch''), better known as "estates general", in Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome, with the aim of "forging a coherent and well-funded plan for Italy's economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis". The government invited prominent international politicians including Paolo Gentiloni, David Sassoli and Ursula von der Leyen, economists such as Christine Lagarde, Ignazio Visco, Kristalina Georgieva, Olivier Jean Blanchard, Esther Duflo and Tito Boeri, and top managers like Vittorio Colao. The three main trade unions of the country, CGIL, CISL and UIL, and the Italian industrial employers' confederation, Confindustria, also took part in this estates general. The Prime Minister also invited also the opposition leaders; however, on 10 June, Matteo Salvini, Giorgia Meloni and Antonio Tajani said they would not take part in the conference.

From 17 to 21 July, Giuseppe Conte took part in one of the longest European Councils in history. After days of harsh confrontations, especially between Conte and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the European leaders agreed on a new proposal by the president of the Council, Charles Michel, which provided a budget of €750 billion for the Recovery Fund, composed of €390 billion in grants and €360 billion in loans. Italy would benefit from nearly €82 billion in grants and €127 billion in loans. Prime Minister Conte described the deal as an "historic day for Italy and Europe".

Immigration

When Conte became prime minister in 2018, he acted quickly to deliver on promises to the government's anti-immigration base through strict controls on immigration to Italy. Since 2013, Italy had absorbed over 700,000 African migrants arriving by boat from Libya. During his premiership, Conte and his Interior Minister Matteo Salvini promoted stricter policies regarding immigration and public security.

After Conte's approval on 10 June 2018, Salvini announced the closure of Italian ports to vessels rescuing immigrants in the Mediterranean Sea. On 24 September 2018, the Council of Ministers approved the "Salvini decree", which contained a series of hardline measures that saw the Italian government abolish key forms of protection for migrants and make it easier for them to be deported. The decree also suspends the refugee application process of those who are considered "socially dangerous" or who have been convicted of a crime. The decree was abolished in December 2020.

On 23 September 2019, Italy and other four European countries, Germany, France, Malta and Finland, agreed on a draft deal to present to other EU countries on how to manage the migrant crisis and distribute those saved from the Mediterranean. This agreement was considered a victory for Conte and his new interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese.

On 8 April 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government closed all Italian ports until 31 July, stating that they could not ensure the necessary requirements for the classification and definition of "safe place", established by the Hamburg Rules on maritime search and rescue."

Ponte Morandi collapse

On 14 August 2018, during a torrential rainstorm over the city of Genoa, a section of the Ponte Morandi collapsed. Between 30 and 35 cars and three trucks were reported to have fallen from the bridge, with the deaths of 43 people.

The day after the collapse, Conte declared a state of emergency for the Liguria region, which would last for a year. After few days, Conte appointed Marco Bucci, the elected mayor of Genoa, as extraordinary commissioner for bridge reconstruction. In addition, the government put pressure on the managers of the Italian highway company, Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI), which is part of the Benetton family

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