Franco Frattini

Franco Frattini (14 March 1957 – 24 December 2022) was an Italian politician and magistrate.

From January to December 2022, Frattini served as president of the Council of State.

Frattini was born in Rome in 1957.

He attended the "Giulio Cesare" Classical High School in Rome and graduated in law in 1979 at the Sapienza University.

From 1984 he was State Attorney and magistrate of the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) in Piedmont.

In 1986, Frattini was named member of the Italian Council of State and legal adviser of the Treasury Ministry.

During these years, he served as secretary of the Federation of Young Italian Socialists (FGSI) and member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI).

In 1990 and 1991, he worked as a legal adviser to the deputy secretary of the PSI, Claudio Martelli, in the Andreotti VI Cabinet.

In 1994, Frattini was appointed Secretary General to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers during the first government of Silvio Berlusconi.

However, in January 1995, the government lost its majority in the parliament and Lamberto Dini, an independent technocrat who was serving as Minister of Treasury, became the new Prime Minister.

Frattini was appointed Minister for Public Function.

In 1996, he joined Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) and was candidated in the upcoming election within the Pole for Freedoms, the electoral coalition between FI, National Alliance and other minor conservative parties.

He was elected in the northern constituency of Bolzano–Laives.

However, the centre-left coalition of Romano Prodi won the election and from 1996 to 2001, Frattini served as chairman of the parliamentary committee for the supervision of intelligence (COPACO).

Moreover, from November 1997 until August 2000 he was also a City Councillor in Rome.

In 2001, Frattini was a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies in the constituency of Bolzano, supported by House of Freedom.

From 2001, he took part in the Berlusconi II Cabinet as Minister for Public Administration.

Frattini previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002 to 2004 and from 2008 to 2011 in the governments of Silvio Berlusconi and Minister of Public Function from 1995 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2002, in the government of Lamberto Dini and Silvio Berlusconi.

From 14 November 2002 to 18 November 2004, Frattini served as Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs: the appointment of Frattini followed ten months of interim by Berlusconi himself, after the resignation of the former minister Renato Ruggiero due to his contrasts with the foreign policies of the government.

During his ministerial tenure, Italy supported the invasion of Iraq by the United States led by president George W. Bush; Frattini called it a "legitimate intervention" even in the absence of a United Nations mandate.

Frattini authorized the overflight and the use of Italian military bases by the Anglo-American coalition.

Frattini later sent an Italian military and police contingent to Iraq, in what he called a "humanitarian emergency intervention," of about 3,200 men.

This force made Italy the 3rd largest participant in the Coalition of the willing after the United States and the United Kingdom.

Italian forces took part in Operation Ancient Babylon which began in July 2003 together with British forces in the southern Dhi Qar province, centered in the town of Nassiriya; the Italian Barbara Contini was charged with civilian administration by the Coalition Provisional Administration.

A suicide attack there killed 19 Italians, among military and civilians.

During the Italian military presence in the south of Iraq, eight Italians were kidnapped, of whom two were later murdered: the mercenary Fabrizio Quattrocchi and the journalist Enzo Baldoni, in addition to the SISMI agent Nicola Calipari, killed by U.S. soldiers during the liberation of kidnapped journalist Giuliana Sgrena.

It remains unclear whether Italy offered a ransom for the release of the other six hostages.

The killing of Quattrocchi was reported live on the late night Italian television program Porta a Porta, at the time of which Frattini was a guest in the studio, which raised criticism of Frattini for the lack of tact in not informing the victim's family in advance.

Frattini was later also criticized for saying Quattrocchi "died bravely, I would say as a hero".

From 2004 to 2008, he was also the European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security in the first Barroso Commission.

The so-called Frattini Act, namely Law no. 215/2004, on "Rules on conflicts of interest", approved by Parliament on 13 July 2004, received criticism from the Council of Europe's Venice Commission on its compatibility with international standards on freedom of expression and pluralism of the media.

In 2004, Frattini had to leave office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which passed to Gianfranco Fini following a government reshuffle.

Italy's participation in the post-war occupation of Iraq remained unpopular within the Italian public opinion.

On 4 November 2004, Frattini was named by Berlusconi to take up the Justice and security portfolio in the European Commission, replacing the controversial Rocco Buttiglione, whose appointment had been rejected by the European Parliament.

The appointment of Frattini as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom, and Security raised concerns from the British Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford, due to accusations of belonging to Freemasonry, raised by Buttiglione himself towards Frattini and denied by the latter.

Frattini was also afforded one of the five seats as vice-president of the European Commission.

At the beginning of 2006, the Berlusconi III government announced its intention to withdraw the Italian contingent from Iraq by the end of the year, a decision confirmed by the new government of Romano Prodi that succeeded it.

In February 2006, during the Danish cartoons row, Frattini defended the media's freedom of speech, though he did express disagreement with subject of the cartoons.

In November 2006, the commissioner's concern for child welfare extended to video games, calling for tougher controls; anything relating to stricter self-regulation to an outright ban.

In 2007, Frattini called for a ban on the horror title Rule of Rose, and criticised the EU-endorsed PEGI system for granting the game a 16-years-or-over age rating.