Emma Bonino

Emma Bonino was born on March 9 1948 in Bra, is an Italian politician and is now a Member of the European Parliament. She graduated from a university in Milan in 1972

National Political Career

Elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1976; re-elected in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992 and 1994.
In 1975, she founded the Information Centre on Sterilisation and Abortion and promoted the referendum which led to the introduction of the legalisation of abortion in Italy.
In 1986, she was among the promoters of a referendum against nuclear energy that led to the rejection of a civil nuclear energy programme in Italy.

International Political Career

Elected to the European Parliament in 1979; re-elected in 1984 and 1999.
Secretary from 1993–1994), Transnational Radical Party, President from 1991–1993.
In October 1994, she was appointed Head of the Italian Government delegation to the UN General Assembly for the "Moratorium on death penalty" initiative.
From 1994 to 1999, she was European Commissioner responsible for Consumer Policy, Fisheries and the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO).
- In 1997, her field of competence was widened to include consumer health protection and food safety.
In November 2002, she was appointed Head of the of the Italian Government Delegation at the Inter-governmental Conference of the Community of Democracies in Seoul

Along with Marco Pannella, another member of the Radical Party, Bonino has fought numerous battles for civil rights, mainly in matter of divorce, the legalization of abortion, the legalization of drugs, and for sexual and religious freedoms. She has fought for an end of capital punishment, against female genital mutilation, and the extermination of world hunger.

In June 1999, she obtained a historical number of 8.5% of votes in the European elections (vs. the usual 2–3% that Radicals got in the previous and subsequent elections). Her list (Lista Bonino) won 7 of 87 italian seats in this election. The first 7 on the list were:

Emma Bonino
Marco Pannella
Olivier Dupuis
Marco Cappato
Massimo Bordin
Maurizio Tuco
Gianfranco Dell 'Alba

From 1999 to 2004, the Lista Bonino was non-affiliated. Since 2004, it is part of the ALDE group.

In October 2000, she was the center of controversy of the massive use of spam e-mail for campaigns. which has been forbidden in 2001.

In December 2001, she moved to Cairo with the objective of learning Arabic language and culture. In March 2003, she started a daily review of the arabic press on Radical Radio.

In January 2004, she organized the "Regional Conference on Democracy, Human Rights and the role of the International Penal Court", the first for an Arabic country.

For her battles and engagements with controversial issues, her engagement in the promotion of the human rights and civil rights in the world, she received the "Open Society Prize 2004" and "Prix Femmes d' Europe 2004" for Italy.

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Categories: Member of the European Parliament | European Commissioners | Italian politicians | 1948 births