Andrea Cozzolino

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Andrea Cozzolino
Member of the European Parliament
for Southern Italy
Assumed office
14 July 2009
Personal details
Born (1962-08-03) 3 August 1962 (age 61)
PES
(since 2014)
SpouseAnna Normale
Children3

Andrea Cozzolino (born 3 August 1962) is an Italian politician who is serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2009. Cozzolino began his political career in the 1970s with the Italian Communist Youth Federation (FGCI). He then joined the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and its legal successor parties, including the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), the Democrats of the Left (DS), and the Democratic Party (PD). From 2005 to 2009, he was Assessor for Agriculture and Productive Activities in the Campania region.

Cozzolini was re-elected as MEP in 2014 and 2019. In the

Committee on Petitions (2014–2019). In addition to his committee assignments, Cozzolino was part of the European Parliament's delegations for relations with the Mashriq countries (2014–2019), the Maghreb countries, and the Arab Maghreb Union
(2019–2023).

Early life and education

Cozzolini was born and raised in Naples. He attended the liceo scientifico in Torre del Greco, where he obtained his diploma. It was during this period that he began his political activity.[1][2]

Career

At the end of the 1970s during his high school years in Torre del Greco, Cozzolini was among the founders of the Association of Neapolitan students against the Camorra.

primaries of 14 October 2007, Cozzolino was elected to the National Constituent Assembly of the PD.[2]

In the

Anti-Mafia Investigation Division for Camorra infiltration of the Lo Russo clan,[8] and Mario Morcone (prefect and commissioner for Rome in 2008) was chosen as candidate for mayor after being proposed by the PD's provincial commissioner Andrea Orlando.[9]

In 2014 European Parliament election in Italy, Cozzolino ran again with the PD in the Southern constituency.[10] He was elected with 115,297 preferences, resulting fifth of his party in the constituency. He was appointed vice-president of the Committee on Regional Development,[11] and was also a member of the Committee on Petitions.[12] In 2015, Cozzolini was the candidate of the official secretariat in the primaries of the centre-left coalition for the designation of the presidential candidate for the Campania region.[13] He came in second with 44%, behind the then Salerno mayor Vincenzo De Luca,[3] who won the candidacy with 52%.[14][15][16] In July 2018, Cozzolino was appointed rapporteur for the European Parliament on the proposal for a Regulation on the Regional Development Fund for 2021–2027 and on the Cohesion Fund.[17]

In the

Belgian Prosecutor's Office and supported by the European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, Cozzolino declared his intention to renounce it.[30][31][nb 2] On 12 January 2023, Cozzolino resigned all commission posts and withdrew his amendments; in line with what he previously stated, he voted in favour of the request for a waiver of immunity, which was approved by the European Parliament on 2 February 2023.[32][33]

Qatargate

Since January 2023, Cozzolino was under house arrest in Naples pending a hearing to see whether he would be sent to serve the remainder of his sentence in a Belgian jail. The hearing was scheduled to take place on 11 April 2023.[34] Following his involvement in the Qatargate, as a result of an international arrest warrant issued by the Belgian Prosecutor's Office, he was arrested on 10 February 2023 and taken to Poggioreale prison by the Guardia di Finanza's Organised Crime Investigation Group. According to the charges, Cozzolino, who was a long-time chairman of the delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the European Union–Morocco joint parliamentary committees of the European Parliament, had allegedly received money and gifts from the Moroccan ambassador to Poland in exchange for a policy favourable to those countries in the European Parliament.[35][36]

Cozzolino's name had first emerged when his assistant Francesco Giorgi, Eva Kaili's partner, was arrested as part of the same investigation.[37][38] In a press release issued after the arrest of Giorgi in December 2022, Cozzolino declared that he was "deeply outraged by the judicial events ... which strongly undermine the credibility of the European institutions", and stated that he was "completely unrelated to the investigations".[39] After spending four months under house arrest, the Court of Appeal of Naples revoked the arrests on 15 June 2023.[40] Four days later, he was placed under arrest as soon as he arrived in Brussels for questioning,[41] and was released two days later.[42] On 21 June 2023, Cozzolino was charged by a Belgian court with bribery, membership of a criminal organisation, and money laundering, which he denied, and was conditionally released from house arrest.[43][44][45]

Personal life

Cozzolino is married to Anna Normale, with whom he has three children.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ For the approved motion, see "Texts adopted – Recognising the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism – Wednesday, 23 November 2022". European Parliament. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  2. ^ For the announcement of the immunity revocation, see "Il Parlamento revoca l'immunità dei deputati Cozzolino e Tarabella" (in Italian). European Parliament. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Cozzolino Andrea". Eurodeputati PD (in Italian). 2009. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2024. Updated through the years.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Licciardi, Lucia (10 February 2023). "La 'parabola' di Andrea Cozzolino". Agi (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Chi è Andrea Cozzolino?". La Svolta (in Italian). 20 February 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Gianfranco Nappi, neo assessore regionale all'Agricoltura". Associazione Italiana Sommeliers (in Italian). 16 June 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  5. ^ "7th parliamentary term | Andrea Cozzolino | MEPs". European Parliament. 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Primarie a Bologna e a Napoli Rivincita del Pd sui vendoliani". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 23 January 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Primarie a Napoli, Cozzolino canta vittoria tra le polemiche". NapoliToday (in Italian). 23 January 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Primarie Pd, a Napoli spunta l'ombra della camorra". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 24 September 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  9. ^ Iurillo, Vincenzo (21 September 2011). "Primarie Pd a Napoli, la Dda apre un fascicolo per infiltrazioni mafiose". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Europee 2014, i candidati del Pd nel collegio Nord Ovest". Today (in Italian). 10 April 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  11. ^ "L'europarlamentare Andrea Cozzolino presenta ad Andria la sua candidatura". AndriaLive.it (in Italian). 6 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  12. ^ "8th parliamentary term | Andrea Cozzolino | MEPs". European Parliament. 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  13. ^ De Rosa, Anna Laura (18 February 2015). "Primarie Pd: Cozzolino-De Luca, sfida fino all'ultimo video sui social network". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Primarie, Cozzolino:' Non farò ricorso'". La Repubblica (in Italian). 2 March 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  15. ^ "De Luca vince le primarie del Pd in Campania". Il Foglio (in Italian). 2 March 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Primarie Pd. Cozzolino: 'De Luca vince ma così non va'". Il Mattino (in Italian). 3 March 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Fondi Ue: Cozzolino (Pd) avrà ruolo chiave al Pe per riforma". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 28 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Speciale Elezioni Ue: liste, candidati ed eletti in Italia". La Repubblica (in Italian). 26 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Chi è stato eletto alle Europee". Il Post (in Italian). 28 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  20. ^ "9th parliamentary term | Andrea Cozzolino | MEPs". European Parliament. 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  21. ^ Pascoletti, Matteo (25 November 2022). "La risoluzione del Parlamento Europeo per dichiarare la Russia uno Stato sponsor del terrorismo". Valigia Blu (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  22. ^ "Qatargate, 'Panzeri anima dell'organizzazione'. Pd sospende Cozzolino". Adnkronos (in Italian). 17 December 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  23. ^ Sannino, Conchita (17 December 2022). "Inchiesta Qatargate Cozzolino isolato dal Pd: 'Sospeso, ora chiarisca'". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Qatargate, Pd: Sospensione cautelativa per Cozzolino". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 16 December 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  25. ^ Foschini, Giuliano; Tito, Claudio (16 December 2022). "Euroscandalo, è Cozzolino il terzo uomo: 'Agiva per soldi'". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  26. ^ Travaglio, Marco (17 December 2022). "Il Gran Coniglio". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Scandalo Ue, Pd: 'Sì a revoca immunità Cozzolino'". LaPresse (in Italian). 3 January 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  28. ^ Maglie, Daniele (3 January 2023). "Pd, voto a favore per la revoca dell'immunità di Cozzolino e Tarabella". TG LA7 (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  29. ^ "Qatargate, il Pd voterà a favore della revoca immunità di Cozzolino e Tarabella". Italia Oggi (in Italian). 3 January 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Qatargate, Andrea Cozzolino rinuncia all'immunità parlamentare". La Repubblica (in Italian). 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Qatargate: Cozzolino rinuncerà all'immunità, scrivono i suoi legali". RaiNews (in Italian). 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  32. ^ "Qatargate, Cozzolino ritira tutti i suoi emendamenti a una risoluzione del Parlamento Ue: Due erano sul Marocco". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 12 January 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  33. ^ "Qatargate, revocata l'immunità a Cozzolino e Tarabella. La decisione è già esecutiva". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 2 February 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  34. ^ Luckhurst, Toby; Monetta, Sara; Parker, Jessica (10 April 2023). "Qatargate: Andrea Cozzolino's lawyer speaks to the BBC". BBC News. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Qatargate: Cozzolino ai domiciliari, Tarabella resta in carcere". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 10 February 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  36. ^ Fazzo, Luca (11 February 2023). "Qatar, euroretata nel Pd. Cozzolino in arresto. Preso anche Tarabella". Il Giornale (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  37. ^ Barigazzi, Jacopo (13 December 2022). "The 'giant' and the Moroccan envoy tied to the EU Parliament scandal". Politico. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  38. ^ "L'europarlamentare italiano Andrea Cozzolino è stato arrestato". Il Post (in Italian). 10 February 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  39. ^ "Il Qatargate si allarga: si indaga anche su contatti tra eurodeputati italiani e servizi del Marocco". RaiNews (in Italian). 15 December 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  40. ^ "La Corte d'Appello di Napoli revoca i domiciliari a Cozzolino". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 15 June 2023. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  41. ^ "Qatargate: procura Belgio, 'Cozzolino in stato di fermo'". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). 19 June 2023. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  42. ^ "Qatargate, Cozzolino è libero: 'Non ho mai ricevuto soldi'". Il Mattino (in Italian). 22 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  43. ^ Sorgi, Gregorio (21 June 2023). "Qatargate-linked MEP Cozzolino released from house arrest". Politico. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  44. ^ Gençtürk, Ahmet (21 June 2023). "EU lawmaker charged by Belgian court over European Parliament scandal". Anadolu Ajansı. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  45. ^ "Scandal at European Parliament: Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino charged in Belgium". The Brussels Times. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2024.