Marco Cappato

In the report, edited by serving European Officers, Cappato scores 28th on 926 MEPs and he's awarded 5 stars.

During his mandate at the European Parliament, Cappato gains approval by the EP on his proposals for a public registry of the elected members to fight against absenteeism of the Italian MEPs.

Marco Cappato (born 25 May 1971) is an Italian activist and politician.

Having grown up in a politically engaged family in Milan, Cappato joined Marco Pannella and the Radical Party in 1990.

He graduated in economics at Bocconi University in Milan and, after a brief experience in the private sector, joined the Radical group at the European Parliament in 1995.

In 1996, he became Treasurer of the Movement CORA (Coordination of Radical Anti-prohibitionists).

During an unauthorized rally in Brussels to protest against censorship, he was arrested outside Le Soir newspaper building and jailed for a few hours

In 1997 and 1998 he was appointed Transnational Radical Party representative at the United Nations in New York City, where he worked on the establishment of the International Criminal Court and on the anti-prohibitionist campaign.

From 15 June to 17 July 1998 he was among the attendees of the Diplomatic Conference which brought the adoption of the Statute of Rome.

For his activism at the Conference, he gained attention by the Washington Post.

Cappato was an Italian Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2009.

He represented the Bonino List within the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe parliamentary group.

He was member of the Foreign Affairs, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights committees.

He also served as a vice-president of the European Parliament Delegation for the relations with the Mashrek Countries.

From February 1999 to July 2001 he was the Coordinator of the "Radical Committee for the liberal revolution of the United States of Europe", the first political movement in 2000 to hold online voting for the election of the leading bodies.

In June 1999 he is elected at the European Parliament for the Lista Bonino, member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group.

From March to November 2002 he has been President of the Transnational Radical Party board.

Since October 2002 he has been Coordinator of "Parliamentarians for Antiprohibitionist Action" (PAA), a group of around 200 parliamentarians from around the world.

In 2004, elected Secretary of the Luca Coscioni Association for Freedom of Scientific Research, he is one of the promoters of the referendum for the cancellation of the new law on assisted reproduction.

He's also coordinator of the radical-liberal area in Italy running for the European elections in 2004.

After the encounter with Luca Coscioni, the Italian university researcher sick of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, who invests the Radical Party with a campaign for freedom of scientific research, Cappato deals directly with the issue.

During his mandate at the European Parliament, he is committed to successfully unlock the European funds for research on stem cells from supernumerary embryos.

As Secretary of the Luca Coscioni Association for Freedom of Scientific Research, Cappato is among the promoters of the constitutive session of the World Congress for Freedom of scientific research.

In 2005 he is re-elected Secretary of the Luca Coscioni Association, which helps to constitute in Italy the new liberal-socialist political association named The Rose in the Fist.

He is elected for the Piedmont region I to the Lower House at the Italy General Elections held on 9–10 April.

He will gain a second mandate as MEP in 2006 following Emma Bonino’s resignation to become Minister for External Trade in the Second Italy Prodi's Government.

He is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Delegation for relations with the Mashrek countries.

He's also European Parliament "rapporteur" on the Directive on "privacy with regard to electronic communication".

Due to his efforts in countering generalized digital surveillance, he is awarded "European of the Year" by the weekly "European Voice".

Cappato is awarded "for his leadership in the campaign for the protection of privacy, in particular in respect of the preservation of the protection of the citizens personal data in the very moment where the United States have undertaken a war against terrorism."

For his campaign against the European monitoring laws, he is nominated for the "Politician of the Year" Award by the American magazine "Wired".

He was the European Parliament's Rapporteur on human rights in the world for 2007.

On 14 January 2009 his report of the European Parliament on access to documents by the European Council, the European Parliament and European Commission was approved in Strasbourg (with 355 votes in favor and 195 against).

In May 2009, the European Council replies to an interrogation submitted in March 2008 by Cappato asking to know the extent of European Institutions dependence on Microsoft, and the savings from an eventual shift to free software.

Cappato Initiative gains wide recognition among Open Source Communities around Europe.

Also in May 2009 Cappato is reported by Parlorama.eu in the top list of MEPs scored by presence and activity during the 2004–2009 term.

In 2009 he runs in the European Elections as candidate of the Bonino-Pannella List but he is not elected.

A nonviolent activist for fundamental rights and liberties, in 2017 he undertook civil disobedience to push the Italian Parliament to approve new rules allowing legal euthanasia in Italy.

Cappato breached the law by helping an Italian tetraplegic and blind man from Milan to reach a Switzerland clinic where assisted suicide was legal.

Due to Cappato's trial on 24 September 2019, the Constitutional Court of Italy urged Parliament to adopt appropriate legislative protections corresponding to the principles and rights enshrined in Italy's constitution.