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(born August 9 1939) is a centre-left Italian politician. Since May 17, 2006, he has served as Prime Minister of Italy following the narrow victory of his l'Unione coalition over the Casa delle Libertà led by Silvio Berlusconi in the April 2006 Italian elections. He was previously Prime Minister from 1996 to 1998 and President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004.
Personal Romano Prodi was born in Scandiano, in the province of Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna). He is the eighth of nine children of Mario Prodi, an engineer originally from a peasant family, and Enrica, elementary teacher. He has six brothers, five of them university professors (including a Member of the European Parliament, Vittorio Prodi), and two sisters. He married Flavia Franzoni in 1969. They have two sons, Giorgio and Antonio. He and his family still live in Bologna. Prodi is a devout Roman Catholic. Academic career After completing his secondary education at the Liceo Ludovico Ariosto in Reggio Emilia, Prodi graduated in law at the Sacro Cuore Catholic University of Milan in 1961 and carried out postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 1963 he became a teaching assistant for Beniamino Andreatta in the department of economics and the faculty of Political Science of the University of Bologna, then serving as associate professor (1966) and lastly professor (1971-1999) of industrial organisation and industrial policy. Prodi has also been a visiting professor at Harvard University and the Stanford Research Institute. His research covers mainly competition regulations and the development of small and medium businesses. He is also interested in relations between states and markets and the dynamics of the different capitalistic models. Prodi has received close to a score of honorary degrees from institutions in Italy, the rest of Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. Beginnings
The Olive Tree In 1995 he became Chairman of the centre-left Olive Tree coalition, and in the 1996 election defeated Silvio Berlusconi and the Pole of Freedoms, being consequently appointed as Prime Minister. His government fell in 1998 when the Communist Refoundation Party withdrew support, allowing the formation of a new government under Massimo D'Alema (many claim that D'Alema caused the collapse of Prodi in order to become Prime Minister himself). This happened by only one vote in the Chamber of Deputies in the vote of a mozione di sfiducia, an act with which either House of Parliament can withdraw its support to the Government (it has been the first and so far the only time such a vote has been called in the history of republican Italy, many Governments having fallen by dimission after the rejection of an important bill, such as the general budget of the State). European time Prodi, a well-known European Union supporter, was appointed on September 1999 as the President of the European Commission, with a large support from both Christian Democrat and Social Democrat European parties. During his presidency, in 2002 eleven EU countries officially adopted the euro as their new currency, replacing a number of national currencies. Successively, in 2004 the European Union was enlarged to several Eastern Europe countries, most of them formerly part of the communist bloc. Prodi's mandate expired 18 November 2004. Back to Italian politics
In power once more Romano Prodi and his cabinet were sworn in on 17 May, 2006. Prodi's cabinet drew in politicians from across his centre-left winning coalition, in addition to Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, an unelected former official of the European Central Bank with no partisan membership. Romano Prodi obtained the support for his cabinet on 19 May at the Senate and on 23 May at the Chamber of Deputies. Also on May 18, Prodi laid out some sense of his new foreign policy when he pledged to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq and called the Iraq war a "grave mistake that has not solved but increased the problem of security". (Guardian) Coalition The coalition led by Romano Prodi, thanks to the electoral law which gives the winner a sixty seat majority, can count on a good majority in House of Representatives but only on a very narrow majority in Senate. The composition of the coalition is very varied, throwing parties of Communist inspiration like "Comunisti Italiani" (Italian Communist Party) and "Rifondazione Comunista" (Communist Refoundation party) together with parties of Catholic and liberal inspiration, like "Margherita" (Daisy) and "UDEUR" (Democratic Union for Europe), led by Clemente Mastella, a former member of Christian Democratic Party. Therefore, according critics, it is difficult to have a unique policy in different key areas, such as economics and foreign politics (for instance, Italian military presence in Afghanistan). 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict August 21: Romano Prodi said that he has informed United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Italy is ready to lead the multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Speaking near his holiday home in Tuscany, Prodi told reporters that Annan would take a final decision on the leadership of the force at the weekend of August 27 and August 28.• August 22: "I have confirmed the willingness of Italy to take command of the mission in Lebanon." the prime minister said, according to his office. Prodi's office said that both the Lebanese and Israeli governments had contacted Rome about taking a leadership role in the U.N. force.• August 23: Romano Prodi said his country's troops are prepared to lead the multinational force once the composition is determined and their role is clearly defined. He told he believes it is "urgent" that a decision be made soon, because the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah is fragile. Israel has said it won't withdraw from Lebanon until the international forces arrive. "I trust their statement," the prime minister said. Prodi said he has made it clear to Annan that all members of the Security Council should not only politically endorse the effort, but also offer troops.• See also Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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