Emma Bonino

Senator Emma Bonino
Italian Minister of European Affairs and International Trade
In office 17 May 2006 – 7 May 2008
Prime Minister	Romano Prodi
Preceded by	Giorgio La Malfa
European Commissioner for Health & Consumer Protection
In office 1995–1999
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	David Byrne
Vice President of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office 2008
Personal details
Born	9 March 1948 (1948-03-09) Bra, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Radical Party
Religion	Atheism

Emma Bonino (born 9 March 1948 in Bra) is an Italian politician, former Member of the European Parliament and current Member of the Italian Senate. She is a leading member of the Italian Radicals, a political party that supports economic and social libertarianism, and human rights. She graduated in modern languages and literature from Bocconi University in Milan in 1972.

A veteran legislator in Italian politics and an activist for various reform policies, she was elected as one of four Vice Presidents of the Senate on 6 May 2008.

National political career

Bonino was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1976 and re-elected in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1994 and 2006. In 1975, she founded the Information Centre on Sterilisation and Abortion and promoted the referendum which led to the legalisation of abortion in Italy. In 1986, she was among the promoters of a referendum against nuclear energy that led to the rejection of a civil nuclear energy programme in Italy.

On 17 May 2006, Emma Bonino was appointed as Minister for International Trade in the cabinet of Romano Prodi. She resigned from that office on 7 May 2008, as she had been elected Vice President of the Senate the previous day. In 2008, at the elections of April 13–14, she was elected to a seat in the Senate, the second parliamentary chamber, on the list of the Democratic Party for the Piedmont constituency.

International political career

Bonino was elected to the European Parliament in 1979 and re-elected in 1984 and 1999. She served as the Secretary of the Transnational Radical Party in 1993–94 and the party's president in 1991–1993. In October 1994, she was appointed Head of the Italian Government delegation to the UN General Assembly for the "Moratorium on death penalty" initiative. From 1994 to 1999, she was European Commissioner responsible for Consumer Policy, Fisheries and the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO). In 1997, her field of competence was widened to include consumer health protection and food safety.

On 15 March 1999, together with all the Santer Commission, she resigned due to the accusations of fraud and mismanagement against commissioner Edith Cresson. The final report however leveled charges against most commissioners, including Bonino herself. In November 2002, she was appointed Head of the Italian Government delegation at the Inter-governmental Conference of the Community of Democracies in Seoul.

Along with Marco Pannella, another member of the Radical Party, Bonino has fought numerous battles for civil rights and individual liberty, mainly concerned with divorce, the legalisation of abortion, the legalisation of drugs, and for sexual and religious freedoms. She has fought for an end to capital punishment, against female genital mutilation, and the eradication of world hunger.

In June 1999, she obtained a historic percentage of votes (8.5%) in the European elections (vs. the usual 2–3% that Radicals got in the previous and subsequent elections). Her list (Lista Bonino) won seven of 78 Italian seats in this election. The first seven on the list were:

• Emma Bonino
• Marco Pannella
• Olivier Dupuis
• Marco Cappato
• Benedetto Della Vedova
• Maurizio Turco
• Gianfranco Dell'Alba

Еmma Bonino supported the NATO intervention in Kosovo in the Spring of 1999. From 1999 to 2004, the Lista Bonino was non-affiliated. Since 2004, it is part of the ALDE group. In December 2001, she moved to Cairo with the objective of learning the Arabic language and culture. In March 2003, she started a daily review of the Arabic press on Radical Radio. In January 2004, she organized the "Regional Conference on Democracy, Human Rights and the role of the International Penal Court", the first for an Arabic country. She is currently a Board member of the Arab Democracy Foundation.

Bonino is a Board member of DARA (international organization).

Taking her background, one can infer she is a fervent pro-European, she reaffirmed it recently by signing the Soros letter ('As concerned Europeans') and calling for a stronger European integration.

Emma Bonino is a godmother of Countess Luana, elder daughter of Prince Friso and Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau.

Awards

In 1999 she was one of the two winners of the North-South Prize, an award that honors individuals with accomplishment in the protection of human rights, pluralistic democracy, and improvement of North-South relations.

For her battles and engagements with controversial issues, her engagement in the promotion of human rights and civil rights in the world, she received the "Open Society Prize 2004" and "Prix Femmes d'Europe 2004" for Italy.

External links

• Official website
• Article in Time from 1999
• Detailed Biography
• Woman in Decision-making: Interview with Emma Bonino
• Parliamentary functions 1999–2004
• Parliamentary functions currently
• Emma Bonino's syndicated op/ed column
• EU report on mismanagement in the Santer commission, chapter on Bonino's role
• UK parliament report on the Santer scandal and Bonino's role

Political offices
Preceded by Christiane Scrivener	European Commissioner for Health & Consumer Protection 1995–1999	Succeeded by David Byrne
Preceded by Giorgio La Malfa	Minister of European Affairs and International Trade 2006–2008	Succeeded by Andrea Ronchi
Preceded by Title jointly held	Vice President of the Italian Senate 2008 – present With: Vannino Chiti Rosi Mauro Domenico Nania	Incumbent
Italian Chamber of Deputies
Preceded by Title jointly held	Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies 2006–2008	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Italian Senate
Preceded by Title jointly held	Member of the Italian Senate 2008 – Present	Incumbent