Franco Frattini

Studies and lawyers' career

Frattini attended the "Giulio Cesare" Classical High School in Rome and graduated in law in 1979.

From 1984 he was State Attorney and magistrate of the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) in Piedmont. In 1986 Frattini was named member of the Italian Council of State and legal adviser of the Treasury Ministry.

Early career

In 1990 and 1991 he worked as a legal adviser to the deputy chairman of the PSI, Claudio Martelli, in the Andreotti VI Cabinet.

Junior minister in the Berlusconi I and Dini cabinets (1994-96)

Frattini was nominated Secretary-General of Presidency of the Council of Ministers during the Berlusconi I Cabinet in 1994-1995. He was Minister Civil Service and Regional Affairs in the next technocratic Dini Cabinet (1995-1996).

MP for Forza Italia (1996-2001)

In 1996 Frattini is a candidate to the elections within the Pole for Freedoms, the electoral coalition of Forza Italia. He was elected in the northern constituency of Bolzano - Laives.

From 1996 to 2001 he was chairman of the parliamentary committee for the supervision of intelligence (COPACO), elected by unanimous vote of the majority and the opposition.

From November 1997 to August 2000 he was also City Councillor in Rome.

MP, Junior and Foreign Minister in the Berlusconi cabinets (2001-2004)

In 2001 Frattini was a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies in the constituency of Bolzano, supported by House of Freedom.

From 2001 he took part in the Berlusconi II Cabinet as Minister of the Public Administration.

From 14 November 2002 to 18 November 2004 Frattini served as Foreign Minister: the appointment of Frattini followed ten months of interim by Berlusconi himself, after the resignation of the forme FM Renato Ruggiero due to his contrasts with the foreign policies of the government.

European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security (2004-2008)

On 4 November 2004, he was nominated to take up the Justice and security portfolio in the Commission, in place of the controversial Rocco Buttiglione, whose appointment as Italian representative in the Commission had been rejected by the European Parliament.

Declarations and positions

In February 2006 during the Danish cartoons row Frattini defended the media's freedom of speech, though did express disagreement with subject of the cartoons.

November saw the commissioner's concern for child welfare extended to video games, calling for tougher controls; anything relating to stricter self-regulation to an outright ban In 2007 he called for a ban on the horror title Rule of Rose, and criticised the EU-endorsed PEGI system for granting the game a 16-years-or-over age rating. Reports on GameSpot showed he was seeking a Europe-wide ban on violent videogames. On 6 February 2007 – Safer Internet Day 2007 – Frattini recalled the need to protect children's rights, saying: "I am deeply concerned at this potential harm by the internet to children. This could involve people preying on them or children accessing racist, cruel or violent material."

At the start of 2007, Frattini backed an Italian push for EU support of a worldwide ban on the death penalty.

In April 2007 he has called for more powers to be given to Eurojust, with the power to initiate prosecutions with a European Public Prosecutor.

Following the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack he criticised the handling of Islam by member-states and called for a "European Islam".

Interviewed by Reuters he declared his intention to promote online communications monitoring and censorship of "dangerous words" like "bomb, kill, genocide or terrorism".

Resignation and other positions held

In 2008 Frattini has resigned as Commissioner to take part in the Berlusconi IV as Foreign Minister. The role of European Commissioner for Italy was then assigned to Antonio Tajani, with responsibility for transports rather than for justice.

During his term as European Commissioner, Frattini was also appointed by the Prime Minister Berlusconi to the coordination of assistance from the government for the conduct of the Winter Olympics in Turin 2006

Foreign Minister (2008-2011)

At the 2008 snap election Frattini was nominated for the People of Freedom party in the constituency of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and elected to the Chamber of Deputies.

From 2008 to 2011, during the Berlusconi IV Cabinet, Frattini was back as Foreign Minister of Berlusconi, as between 2002 and 2004.

In October 2009 he was awarded the Premio America of the Italy–USA Foundation.

In November 2010, Frattini dubbed the Wikileaks revelations as the "September 11 of Diplomacy" and stated that Julian Assange "wants to destroy the world".

Current positions

Since 2011 Frattini is president of the Foundation Alcide De Gasperi. Since 2012 he is president of the Italian Society for International Organizations (SIOI), a non-profit organization of internationalist character, working under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Frattini is the first politician to fill a position previously reserved for diplomats and academics of the highest level.

In 2012 Frattini received the honorary citizenship of the city of Tirana.

Frattini did not run for the Italian general election, 2013, and has taken back his position as member and Chamber President of the Italian Council of State.

Frattini was a candidate for the post of NATO's secretary general, currently held by Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He was a candidate to replace him in October 2014, but the post has been given at the beginning of the year to Jens Stoltenberg.

Honors

Frattini received Medaglia Teresiana at University of Pavia in 2008.

Foreign honour