Stefano Bonaccini | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| Assumed office 16 July 2024 | |
| Constituency | North-East Italy |
| 9thPresident of Emilia-Romagna | |
| In office 24 November 2014 – 12 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Vasco Errani |
| Succeeded by | Michele De Pascale |
| President of the Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office 12 March 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Valentina Cuppi |
| President of the Conference of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces | |
| In office 17 December 2015 – 9 April 2021 | |
| Deputy | Giovanni Toti |
| Preceded by | Sergio Chiamparino |
| Succeeded by | Massimiliano Fedriga |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1967-01-01)1 January 1967 (age 58) Modena, Italy |
| Political party | PCI (until 1991) PDS (1991–1998) DS (1998–2007) PD (since 2007) |
| Spouse | Sandra Notari |
| Children | 2 |
| Profession | Politician |
Stefano Bonaccini (Italian pronunciation:[ˈsteːfanobonatˈtʃiːni]; born 1 January 1967) is an Italian politician and member of theDemocratic Party (PD), of which he is serving as president since 12 March 2023. In 2024, he was elected to theEuropean Parliament to representNorth-East Italy.
For nearly ten years, from November 2014 to July 2024, Bonaccini served as thePresident of Emilia-Romagna. He resigned from the role to become anMEP.[1]
Bonaccini started his political career in theItalian Communist Party (PCI) and followed that party's transition towardsocial democracy,[2][3] becoming one of the main representatives of the PD's reformist or moderate wing.[4][5][6]
Stefano Bonaccini was born inCampogalliano, nearModena[7], on 1 January 1967, in a lowermiddle-class family. His father was atruck driver, while his mother worked in a factory.[8]
After attending the scientific lyceum, he started his political career during the 1980s, as a member of thepeace movements.[9] Contextually, he joined theItalian Communist Party (PCI), for which he became municipal assessor in the town of Campogaliano, where he lived.[10] The PCI was transformed into theDemocratic Party of the Left (PDS) and, in 1993, Bonaccini became provincial secretary of theLeft Youth (SG), the PDS youth-wing. Two years later, in 1995, he was elected provincial secretary of the PDS of Modena.[11] In 1998, he joined the newly formedDemocrats of the Left (DS). From 1999 to 2006, he served as Modena's municipal assessor for public works, cultural heritage and historical city centre.[12]
In 2007, he was appointed the provincial secretary of theDemocratic Party (PD), the new centre-left party formed by the union between DS and the Christian centrist party,The Daisy (DL).[13] Two years later he was elected regional secretary of the PD forEmilia-Romagna.[14]
After the2010 regional election, Bonaccini was elected regional councillor for the Democratic Party. During the legislature he became one of the closer advisors of incumbent governorVasco Errani, who was ruling the region since 1999.[15] During these years, Bonaccini was widely considered as one of Errani's most probable successors. On 13 December 2013, he was appointed national coordinator for "Local Authorities" in the national secretariat of the PD, under the leadership ofMatteo Renzi, who Bonaccini supported in the2013 primary election.[16]
After the resignation ofEmilia-Romagna's long-time President Errani, Bonaccini emerged as the most probable candidate for the presidency. However, he was initially challenged by the President of the Regional Council,Matteo Richetti. In September 2014, they were both under investigation forembezzlement. Richetti withdrew his candidacy, while Bonaccini decided to continue his campaign.[17] The two politicians would be later acquitted from all charges.[18]
On 28 September, Bonaccini won the centre-left primary election to become the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, with 60.9% of the votes against the former mayor ofForlì, Roberto Balzani.[19]
On 23 November 2014, he won theregional election in Emilia-Romagna with 49.1% of the votes, defeating the centre-right candidate Alan Fabbri and becoming the 9thPresident of the region.[20]
On 20 July 2015, Bonaccini signed so-called the "Pact for Labour", a deal between regional government,trade unions and entrepreneurs, to relaunch employment in the region.[21] The Pact allocated, in almost five years, more than 22 billion euros.[22]
On 17 December 2015, Bonaccini was electedPresident of the Conference of the Regions andAutonomous Provinces, replacing Piedmontese PresidentSergio Chiamparino, who resigned a few weeks before.[23] While on 12 December 2016, he was elected president of theCouncil of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the largest organisation of local and regional governments inEurope.[24]
Since 2014, the regional government cut the waiting lists for patients and exams in health and opened many "health houses" for proximity medicine. Moreover, Emilia-Romagna was the first region in Italy to abolish the so-called superticket and started a drastic reduction of the fees for the nests.[25]
In 2017 and 2018, Bonaccini's government implemented a policy aimed to increase the political and fiscalautonomy of Emilia-Romagna.[26] Bonaccini stated: "We have activated the path towards a greater regional autonomy to better face the challenges of change. We want an autonomy that respects theConstitution, national unity and solidarity between territories, which are principles that are absolutely inviolable for us, but capable of improving relations between central administration and local autonomies. Above all, we need an autonomy to strengthen investment planning, to streamline and simplify procedures, to make our services for citizens and businesses even more efficient and effective."[27]
During his first term, Emilia-Romagna lived a period of economic prosperity.Unemployment went down from 9% in 2014, to 4.8% in 2019, while the employment rate rose to 71%, the highest in the country.[28] The region was also the first one in Italy for GDP growth from 2014 to 2019[29] and the first region for export "per capita".[30]
Despite Emilia-Romagna having always been considered one of the "red regions" – a stronghold of left-wing parties since the end of theWorld War II – due to the right-wing surge in the country, the2020 regional election was considered as the first competitive one in the history of the region.[31] Bonaccini was confirmed the centre-left candidate at the head of a coalition including the PD and its left-wing allies ofFree and Equal (LeU) andGreen Europe (EV), as well asMore Europe (+Eu).[32][33] Bonaccini also launched a personalcivic list, named "Bonaccini for President", which included, among others, members fromMatteo Renzi'sItalia Viva (IV),Carlo Calenda'sAction andFederico Pizzarotti'sItalia in Comune (IiC).[34]
The centre-right proposed SenatorLucia Borgonzoni, member of theLeague (Lega) and former undersecretary to cultural activities inGiuseppe Conte'sfirst government.[35] The centre-right coalition included alsoBrothers of Italy (FdI),Forza Italia (FI) andCambiamo! (C!).[36]
During the campaign, Bonaccini claimed the results achieved by his administration (including the "Pact for Labour" of 2015),[37] and proposed four priority points summed up into the slogan "A step forward": to create freekindergartens for all children in the region, to break down the waiting lists for health interventions and access times to first aid, to carry out preventive maintenance and safety of the regional territory, and to reduce the phenomenon ofNEET.[38]
The electoral campaign was characterized by a massive presence of the League's leader,Matteo Salvini, who aimed to win in Emilia-Romagna to tear down the government. However, his campaign led to the birth of theSardines movement, agrassroots political movement,[39][40] which organized a series of peaceful demonstrations to protest against theright-wing surge in the country and, more specifically, against the political rhetoric of Salvini.[41]
On 26 January, Bonaccini was re-elected to a second term, with more than 51% of votes, against 43% of Borgonzoni.[42] The centre-left alliance scored particularly well inBologna,Modena,Reggio Emilia andRavenna, where Bonaccini approached or even overcame the 60% of votes.[43]
In March 2020, Italy was severely hit by thecoronavirus pandemic andEmilia-Romagna became one of the most affected regions. As of March 2021, Emilia-Romagna had more than 276,000 cases and 10,000 deaths were confirmed.
On 4 March, when Emilia-Romagna's regional minister of health, Raffaele Donini, was declared positive for COVID-19,[44] Governor Bonaccini appointed Sergio Venturi as Extraordinary Commissioner for the emergency.[45] Venturi served as regional minister oh health from 2014 to 2020.[46]
On 9 March 2020, thegovernment of Italy underPrime MinisterGiuseppe Conte imposed a nationalquarantine, restricting the movement of the population except for necessity, work, and health circumstances in the whole country.[47] On 16 March, Bonaccini imposed a strengthened quarantine on the municipality ofMedicina, near Bologna, since it had developed an intense outbreak. People were not allowed to enter or exit the town for any reason.[48] While on 21 March, he closedsupermarkets during the weekends.[49] On 18 May, the lockdown officially ended.[50]
On 1 November 2020, Bonaccini tested positive for COVID-19, amid a pandemic resurgence in the country.[51] On 13 November, he was hospitalized with a bilateral pneumonia and discharged after a few days.[52]
In March 2021, when his region was heavily hit by a third wave of the pandemic, Bonaccini imposed red zones in the provinces ofBologna,Modena and in many municipalities throughRomagna.[53]
Following the resignation ofEnrico Letta as secretary of the Democratic Party after the2022 Italian general election, Bonaccini was immediately touted as a potential candidate for the party leadership. On 20 November 2022, Bonaccini formally announced his candidacy as leader of the Democratic Party. In the2023 PD leadership election, Bonaccini won the first round, achieving 52.87% among party members, but eventually lost to his former deputyElly Schlein in the open primary election on 26 February 2023. He was successively named as the new party president on 12 March 2023, following an agreement between him and Schlein.
On 21 and 22 July, during a two-days convention inCesena, Bonaccini launched his own political faction, namedPeople's Energy, from the slogan chosen for the leadership election.[54]
As a president, Bonaccini had to face one of the deadliest natural events which ever affected the region. In May 2023,a series of floods hit in and around the cities ofBologna,Cesena,Forlì,Faenza,Ravenna, andRimini.[55] The first floods occurred between 2 and 3 May 2023, killing two people.[56] More severe floods took place on 16–17 May 2023, killing at least 15 people and displacing 50,000 others.[57][58][59] The same amount of rain which usually falls in seven months fell in two weeks, causing the overflow of twenty-three rivers across the region.[60][61] In some areas, almost half the annual average of rain fell in only 36 hours.[62] Moreover, 400landslides occurred in the area and 43 cities and towns were flooded.[63] The provisional cost of the damage caused by the floods amounts to more than €10 billion (US$11 billion).[64][65]
Bonaccini's request to be named extraordinary commissioner to manage the relief funds,[66] as was custom among regional presidents in Italy,[67][68] was opposed by theMeloni government, in particular by Brothers of Italy and Lega;[69][70] some regional presidents of thecentre-right coalition, such asRoberto Occhiuto,Giovanni Toti, andLuca Zaia, sided with Bonaccini.[71] On 7 June, Meloni hosted a meeting with Bonaccini and other administrators from the affected areas, stating that the emergency would be temporarily managed by an operative table between the national government and local institutions led byNello Musumeci, theMinister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies.[68][72] After weeks of tension within the government and between majority and opposition parties,[68][69][71] the Meloni cabinet officially appointed army corps generalFrancesco Paolo Figliuolo as Extraordinary Commissioner for the Reconstruction on 27 June 2023.[73][74][75]
In 2024, Bonaccini ran in theEuropean Parliament election as PD's top candidate in the North East Italy constituency. He was elected with 390,400 votes, coming second after Prime Minister Meloni on the FdI list.[76] On 26 June, he announced that he will resign from his post as Emilia-Romagna regional president following the G7 ministers' meeting on science and technology in Bologna and Forlì on 9-11 July, right before the new European Parliament starts working on 16 July.[77] After his resignation, Vice President Irene Priolo acceded to the office as a caretaker and new regional elections would be held on 17 November.
Bonaccini is married to Sandra Notari, a small business owner from Modena. They met the first time during a meeting between Modena's city council, of which Bonaccini served as assessor, and local business owners.[78] The couple has two daughters, Maria Vittoria and Virginia.[79] On 2 October 2023, Maria Vittoria had a daughter, Carolina, thus Bonaccini became grandfather at the age of 56.[80]
Until 39 years old, Bonaccini played as aforward in many localfootball teams.[81] He is an avid supporter ofJuventus FC andModena Volley.[82]
| Election | House | Constituency | Party | Votes | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | European Parliament | North-East Italy | PD | 390,400 |  YElected | |
| 2014 Emilia-Romagna regional election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Coalition | Votes | % | ||
| Stefano Bonaccini | PD | Centre-left coalition | 615,723 | 49.0 | ||
| Alan Fabbri | LN | Centre-right coalition | 374,736 | 30.0 | ||
| Giulia Gibertoni | M5S | 167,022 | 13.3 | |||
| Others | 97,777 | 7.7 | ||||
| Total | 1,255,258 | 100.0 | ||||
| 2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Coalition | Votes | % | ||
| Stefano Bonaccini | PD | Centre-left coalition | 1,195,742 | 51.4 | ||
| Lucia Borgonzoni | Lega | Centre-right coalition | 1,014,672 | 43.6 | ||
| Others | 115,083 | 5.0 | ||||
| Total | 2,325,497 | 100.0 | ||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
