Andrea Orlando (born 8 February 1969) is an Italian politician who served as minister of labour and social policies from 2021 to 2022 in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi.[1][2] From 2013 to 2014 he served as minister of the environment under Enrico Letta and as minister of justice under Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gentiloni from 2014 to 2018. He served as deputy secretary of the Democratic Party between 2019 and 2021.

Andrea Orlando
Orlando in 2021
Minister of Labour and Social Policies
In office
13 February 2021 – 22 October 2022
Prime MinisterMario Draghi
Preceded byNunzia Catalfo
Succeeded byMarina Calderone
Minister of Justice
In office
22 February 2014 – 1 June 2018
Prime Minister
Preceded byAnnamaria Cancellieri
Succeeded byAlfonso Bonafede
Minister of the Environment
In office
28 April 2013 – 22 February 2014
Prime MinisterEnrico Letta
Preceded byCorrado Clini
Succeeded byGian Luca Galletti
Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party
In office
17 April 2019 – 17 March 2021
LeaderNicola Zingaretti
Preceded byMaurizio Martina
Succeeded byPeppe Provenzano
Irene Tinagli
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
28 April 2006 – 16 December 2024
ConstituencyLiguria
Personal details
Born (1969-02-08) 8 February 1969 (age 55)
La Spezia, Italy
Political party
  • PCI (before 1991)
  • PDS (1991–1998)
  • DS (1998–2007)
  • PD (since 2007)

Originally active within the Communist Party, Orlando became a founding member of the PD in 2007, and has since been regarded as a senior representative of its left-wing.[3] He was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2006, where he has represented Liguria since.[4]

Early life

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Orlando was born in La Spezia on 8 February 1969.[5] His parents came from the Southern region of Campania.[6] He is a high-school graduate with a major in scientific subjects.[7] He attended the scientific lyceum, Antonio Pacinotti.[8]

Political career

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Career in local politics

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Orlando began his political career in Italian Communist Party. In 1989, he was elected provincial secretary of the Italian Communist Youth Federation (FGCI) for his hometown, and in 1990 he was elected to the city council of La Spezia with the party.[5] In 1995 he became city secretary for the Democratic Party of the Left.

Career in national politics

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In 2003, Orlando became deputy national coordinator of the Democrats of the Left.

Orlando first became a member of the Chamber of Deputies in the 2006 Italian general election, representing the Liguria constituency.[5] He served in different parliamentary commissions.[5]

Orlando became a founding member of the Democratic Party.[5] In 2009, he was made the head of the justice forum of the PD, under the leadership of chairman Pier Luigi Bersani.[5] He is known as one of the "Young Turks" in Italian politics.[9]

Minister of the Environment (2013–2014)

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On 23 April 2013, Orlando was appointed minister of the environment in the grand coalition government led by Prime Minister Enrico Letta.[8][10] Orlando succeeded Corrado Clini in that post.[9]

Minister of Justice (2014–2018)

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On 13 February 2014, following tensions with his left-wing rival and new secretary of the Democratic Party, Matteo Renzi, Letta announced he would resign as prime minister the following day.[11] On 22 February Renzi was sworn in as prime minister, and Orlando was appointed minister of justice.[12][13][11] When Italy held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2014, he chaired the Justice and Home Affairs Council.[14]

On 12 December 2016, when Renzi resigned as prime minister after the constitutional referendum, Orlando was confirmed as justice minister by the new Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.[15]

In February 2017, Orlando tried to win the leadership of the Democratic Party[3][16] but eventually was defeated by incumbent party chairman Renzi.[17]

By June 2017, after more than two years of debate, Italy's parliament approved a contested reform of the justice system proposed by Orlando and aimed at making it more difficult for criminals to avoid conviction.[18]

Parliamentary career

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In parliament, Orlando served on the committee on environment, territory and public works from 2018 until 2021.[19]

In addition to his parliamentary work, Orlando was part of the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2018 until 2021. In this capacity, he served on the committee on legal affairs and human rights (2018–2021) and the sub-committee on artificial intelligence and human rights (2019–2021).[20] From 2020 until 2021, he was the Assembly's rapporteur on the rule of law in Poland and Moldova.[21]

Minister of Labour (2021–2022)

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In February 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, the former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi was invited by President Sergio Mattarella to form a government of national unity following the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.[22][23] On 13 February, Orlando was appointed minister of labour and social policies.[24]

When Italy held the rotating presidency of the G20 in 2021, Orlando chaired the meetings of the group's ministers of labour.[25]

References

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  1. ^ Andrea Orlando è il nuovo Ministro del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali, Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali
  2. ^ Hannah Roberts, Jacopo Barigazzi and Giorgio Leali (16 February 2021), Meet Mario Draghi’s 10 key ministers Politico Europe.
  3. ^ a b Gavin Jones (23 February 2017). "Italy minister to challenge Renzi for leadership of ruling party". Reuters. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  4. ^ Marcello Adriano Mazzola (19 January 2017). "Andrea Orlando spiega come sta la nostra Giustizia. Ma i problemi sono altri". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Andrea Orlando". European Commission. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Andrea Orlando" (in Italian). Camera dei Deputati.
  7. ^ "The team of the Renzi government" (PDF). Intel Group. February 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  8. ^ a b Alex Roe (29 April 2013). "Who Are Italy's New Ministers?". Italy Chronicles. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  9. ^ a b Matteo Carriero (28 April 2013). "Andrea Orlando, il nuovo Ministro dell'Ambiente è uno dei giovani turchi". Ecologiae (in Italian). Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Italy's new cabinet lineup". Xinhua. Rome. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  11. ^ a b Andrew Frye; Chiara Vasarri (22 February 2014). "Renzi Sworn in as Italian Premeir [sic] After Toppling Letta". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Andrea Orlando". International Journalism Festival. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Matteo Renzi and Cabinet sworn in". Trade Bridge Consultants. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  14. ^ Frances Robinson (10 October 2014), EU Data Protection Law on Track for Juncker Deadline Wall Street Journal.
  15. ^ "Gentiloni presenta governo, Padoan confermato all'Economia". Reuters (in Italian). 13 December 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  16. ^ James Politi (23 February 2017), Italy’s Andrea Orlando challenges Matteo Renzi for party leadership Financial Times.
  17. ^ Hannah Roberts, Jacopo Barigazzi and Giorgio Leali (16 February 2021), Meet Mario Draghi’s 10 key ministers Politico Europe.
  18. ^ Crispian Balmer (14 June 2017), Italian parliament approves long-delayed justice reform. Reuters.
  19. ^ Andrea Orlando Chamber of Deputies.
  20. ^ Andrea Orlando Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
  21. ^ Judges in Poland and Moldova must remain independent, says PACE Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, press release of 26 January 2021.
  22. ^ "Mattarella invites Draghi to form a new government". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  23. ^ Miles Johnson; Davide Ghiglione (3 February 2021). "Mario Draghi accepts mandate to form new Italian government". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  24. ^ Andrea Orlando, ministro del Lavoro: chi è, Il Messaggero (in Italian).
  25. ^ Giselda Vagnoni (20 June 2021), Italy, hosting G20, will call for tougher ‘gig economy’ rules. Reuters.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of the Environment
2013–2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Justice
2014–2018
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Labour and Social Policies
2021–2022
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party
2019–2021
Succeeded by
Succeeded by