Andrea Cozzolino

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Andrea Cozzolino
Member of the European Parliament
for Southern Italy
Assumed office
14 July 2009[1][2]
Personal details
Born (1962-08-03) 3 August 1962 (age 61)
NationalityItalian
Political partyDemocratic Party

Andrea Cozzolino (born 3 August 1962) is an Italian politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament since 2009. He was elected MEP for the first time in 2009 and then reelected in 2014 and 2019.[3]

European Parliament[edit]

In Parliament, Cozzolino has served on the Committee on Regional Development since 2014. In 2019, he also joined the Subcommittee on Human Rights. Cozzolino has in the past been a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control (2009-2012), the Committee on Budgets (2009-2013)[4] and the Committee on Petitions (2014-2019).[5]

In addition to his committee assignments, Cozzolino has been part of the Parliament's delegations for relations with the Mashriq countries (2014-2019),[5] the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union (2019-2023).[6]

Cozzolino voted against[7] the European Parliament resolution of 23 November 2022 on recognising the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism.[8]

Qatargate[edit]

On 16 December 2022, the National Commission of Guarantee of the PD decided to cautiously suspend Cozzolino from the party, "until the closure of the ongoing investigations by the judiciary related to the 'Qatargate' scandal".[9][10][11][12]

After the announcement by the PD Party Leader in the European Parliament, Brando Benifei, of the party's vote in favour of the request for a waiver of immunity for MEPs Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella, requested by the Belgian Prosecutor and supported by the President Roberta Metsola, Cozzolino declared his intention to renounce it.[13][14][15][16]

On 12 January 2023, Cozzolino resigned all commission posts, withdrew his amendments and, in line with what he previously stated, voted in favour of the request for a waiver of immunity, which was approved by the European Parliament on February 2.[17][18] Since January 2023, Cozzolino has been under house arrest in Naples pending a hearing to see whether he will be sent to serve the remainder of his sentence in a Belgian jail. The hearing will take place on the 11th of April, 2023.[19]

On 21 June 2023, Cozzolino was charged with bribery, membership of a criminal organisation and money laundering and was conditionally released from house arrest.[20][21][22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Key dates ahead". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Chi è stato eletto alle Europee". Il Post (in Italian). 28 May 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  4. ^ "7th parliamentary term | Andrea COZZOLINO | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b "8th parliamentary term | Andrea COZZOLINO | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  6. ^ "9th parliamentary term | Andrea COZZOLINO | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  7. ^ "La risoluzione del Parlamento Europeo per dichiarare la Russia uno Stato sponsor del terrorismo" (in Italian). Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Texts adopted - Recognising the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism - Wednesday, 23 November 2022". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Qatargate, "Panzeri anima dell'organizzazione". Pd sospende Cozzolino". 17 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Inchiesta Qatargate Cozzolino isolato dal Pd: "Sospeso, ora chiarisca"". 17 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Qatargate, Pd: Sospensione cautelativa per Cozzolino - Mondo". 16 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Euroscandalo, è Cozzolino il terzo uomo: "Agiva per soldi"". 16 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Scandalo Ue, Pd: "Sì a revoca immunità Cozzolino"". 3 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Qatargate, Andrea Cozzolino rinuncia all'immunità parlamentare". 4 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Qatargate: Cozzolino rinuncerà all'immunità, scrivono i suoi legali". 4 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Pd, voto a favore per la revoca dell'immunità di Cozzolino e Tarabella". TGLA7. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Qatargate, Cozzolino ritira tutti i suoi emendamenti a una risoluzione del Parlamento Ue: Due erano sul Marocco". 12 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Qatargate, revocata l'immunità a Cozzolino e Tarabella. La decisione è giàesecutiva". 2 February 2023.
  19. ^ Luckhurst, Toby; Monetta, Sara; Parker, Jessica (10 April 2023). "Qatargate: Andrea Cozzolino's lawyer speaks to the BBC". BBC News. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  20. ^ "Qatargate-linked MEP Cozzolino released from house arrest". POLITICO. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  21. ^ "EU lawmaker charged by Belgian court over European Parliament scandal". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  22. ^ Times, The Brussels. "Scandal at European Parliament: Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino charged in Belgium". www.brusselstimes.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.