Since 2001, Gualtieri has been deputy director of the Gramsci Institute Foundation. In the same year, he became a member of
Democrats of the Left (DS), the main social-democratic political party in Italy, direct heir of the
Italian Communist Party. In 2006, Gualtieri was among the founders of the
Democratic Party (Congress of Orvieto, October 2006) and he was among the "wise men" who wrote its Manifesto. In 2007 he was elected to the National Assembly of the party and since 2008 he has been a member of its National board, where he was confirmed in 2014. Gualtieri voted against party leader
Matteo Renzi in favour of post-communists both in 2013 and 2014 (the year Renzi won the leadership ballot). From 2008 to 2011, Gualtieri served as director (with José Luis Rhi-Sausi) of the "Annual Report on European Integration" (published by Il Mulino). Since 2009, he is a member of the editorial committee of the Foundation "Italianieuropei" .
Member of the European Parliament In 2009, Gualtieri was appointed S&D Group coordinator for the
Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) and standing
rapporteur for the
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) budget in the
Committee on Budgets (BUDG). He was also a full member of the
Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) and substitute of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). In addition to his committee assignments, he was part of the parliament's delegation for relations with the
NATO Parliamentary Assembly between 2009 and 2014. in 2014 In December 2011, Gualtieri was part of the European Parliament negotiating team (with Brok, Verhofstadt and
Daniel Cohn-Bendit) for the establishment of the "Fiscal Compact". In October 2012, he was designated "sherpa" negotiator for the European Parliament (with Brok, Verhofstadt and Cohn-Bendit) in the working group set up by
Herman Van Rompuy on a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union. In 2013 he was co-rapporteur of the Report on constitutional problems of a multitier governance in the European Union with Rafał Trzaskowski. In 2013, he participated in the elaboration of the new Treaty for the European Union, with Brok, Verhofstaft, Cohn-Bendit,
Andrew Duff and
Jo Leinen, promoted by the "Spinelli Group", of which he is a member. From 2013, Gualtieri was member of the Spinelli Group in the European Parliament, and the
2013 municipal elections in Kosovo. Following his re-election as an MEP in July 2014, Gualtieri was elected Chairman of the
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. On the committee, he served as rapporteur of several files, among which the Annual Banking Union report, statistical files, including the appointments of heads and board members of the
European Central Bank, the
Single Resolution Board, the
European Banking Authority, the
European Securities and Markets Authority, the
European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority. He chaired the EP Financial Assistance Working Group, established in 2016 to monitor the implementation of third Greek financial assistance program, and the Committee's Banking Union Working Group. From 2016, Gualtieri was also a member of the Committee of Inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion. In addition, he was a member of the
Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD), the European Parliament Intergroup on Integrity (Transparency, Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime) and of the
European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights. , 2017 From 2017, Gualtieri served on the Parliament's so-called Brexit Steering Group, which works under the aegis of the
Conference of Presidents and to coordinates Parliament's deliberations, considerations and resolutions on the
UK's withdrawal from the EU. Within group, he was – together with
Guy Verhofstadt and
Elmar Brok – one of the Parliament's representatives at the European Council Sherpa meetings on Brexit. Following the
2019 elections, Gualtieri was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's five-year work program on economic and fiscal policies as well as trade. Shortly after, Gualtieri was elected vice-chair of the S&D Group, under the leadership of chairwoman
Iratxe García.
Minister of Economy and Finance In August 2019 tensions grew within the
populist government, leading to the issuing of a motion of no-confidence on Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte by the
League. After Conte's resignation, the national board of the PD officially opened to the possibility of forming a new cabinet in a coalition with the M5S, based on pro-Europeanism,
green economy,
sustainable development, fight against
economic inequality and a new immigration policy. The party also accepted that Conte may continue at the head of a new government, and on 29 August President
Sergio Mattarella formally invested Conte to do so. On 5 September 2019 Gualtieri was appointed
Minister of Economy and Finance. On 26 January 2020, Gualtieri was picked by the centre-left coalition as its candidate at the
incoming by-election in the constituency of Rome
Quartiere Trionfale for the Chamber of Deputies. The by-election follows the resignation of
Paolo Gentiloni from his seat in the Chamber after his appointment as
European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs in the
von der Leyen Commission. In July 2020, Gualtieri, along with Prime Minister Conte and Minister
Vincenzo Amendola, played a key role in one of the longest
European Councils in history. After days of harsh confrontations, the European leaders agreed on a new proposal by the President of the Council,
Charles Michel, which provided a budget of €750 billion for the so-called
Recovery Fund, composed of €390 billion in grants and €360 billion in loans. Italy would benefit from nearly €82 billion in grants and €127 billion in loans. In January 2021, the centrist party
Italia Viva withdrew its support for Conte's government. Although Conte was able to win
confidence votes in the Parliament in the subsequent days, he chose to
resign after failing to reach an
absolute majority in the Senate. When negotiations to form Conte's third cabinet failed, the former
President of the
European Central Bank,
Mario Draghi, formed a
national unity government, in which Gualtieri was not confirmed as minister.
Mayor of Rome On 9 May 2021, Gualtieri officially announced his candidacy as
Mayor of Rome in the
upcoming election. On 18 October, he defeated the centre-right candidate, Enrico Michetti, with 60.2% of votes. He took office on 21 October 2021. ==Political positions==