Stefano Bonaccini (; born 1 January 1967) is an Italian politician and member of the Democratic Party (PD), of which he is serving as president since 12 March 2023. In 2024, he was elected to the European Parliament to represent North-East Italy.
For nearly ten years, from November 2014 to July 2024, Bonaccini served as the President of Emilia-Romagna. He resigned from the role to become an MEP.Emilia Romagna, Bonaccini presidente. Ma vota solo un emiliano su tre
Bonaccini started his political career in the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and followed that party's transition toward social democracy, becoming one of the main representatives of the PD's reformist or moderate wing.Unire i riformisti italiani: il nuovo inizio di Bonaccini, LibertàèUgualeI presidenti di Regione più aprrezzati? Stefano Bonaccini sul podio, BolognaTodayRegionali, Bonaccini: "Ripercussioni del voto sulla segreteria Pd? Si vedrà". E intanto fa campagna in Toscana, sempre più come leader nazionale, la Repubblica
Early political career Stefano Bonaccini was born in Campogalliano, near Modena, on 1 January 1967, in a lower middle-class family. His father was a truck driver, while his mother worked in a factory.Stefano Bonaccini, un attaccante che gioca in difesa (e che se vince vince da solo)
After attending the scientific lyceum, he started his political career during the 1980s, as a member of the peace movements.Biografia di Stefano Bonaccini Contextually, he joined the Italian Communist Party (PCI), for which he became municipal assessor in the town of Campogaliano, where he lived. The PCI was transformed into the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and, in 1993, Bonaccini became provincial secretary of the Left Youth (SG), the PDS youth-wing. Two years later, in 1995, he was elected provincial secretary of the PDS of Modena.Stefano Bonaccini: moglie, programma e biografia. Chi è il Presidente In 1998, he joined the newly formed Democrats of the Left (DS). From 1999 to 2006, he served as Modena's municipal assessor for public works, cultural heritage and historical city centre.Chi è Stefano Bonaccini, governatore dell’Emilia-Romagna
In 2007, he was appointed the provincial secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), the new centre-left party formed by the union between DS and the Christian centrist party, The Daisy (DL). Two years later he was elected regional secretary of the PD for Emilia-Romagna.Pd, le urne premiano Bonaccini. Vince con il 50.83% dei voti
After the 2010 regional election, Bonaccini was elected regional councillor for the Democratic Party. During the legislature he became one of the closer advisors of incumbent governor Vasco Errani, who was ruling the region since 1999.Ministry of the Interior – 2000 regional election in Emilia-Romagna, Ministero dell'Interno During these years, Bonaccini was widely considered as one of Errani's most probable successors. On 13 December 2013, he was appointed national coordinator for "Local Authorities" in the national secretariat of the PD, under the leadership of Matteo Renzi, who Bonaccini supported in the 2013 primary election.Pd, Bonaccini entra nella segreteria di Renzi
President of Emilia-Romagna (2014–2024) After the resignation of Emilia-Romagna's long-time President Errani, Bonaccini emerged as the most probable candidate for the presidency. However, he was initially challenged by the President of the Regional Council, Matteo Richetti. In September 2014, they were both under investigation for embezzlement. Richetti withdrew his candidacy, while Bonaccini decided to continue his campaign.Primarie Pd Emilia, indagati Richetti e Bonaccini: uno si ritira, l’altro no, Il Fatto Quotidiano The two politicians would be later acquitted from all charges.Fondi Emilia-Romagna, assolto Richetti, la Repubblica
On 28 September, Bonaccini won the centre-left primary election to become the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, with 60.9% of the votes against the former mayor of Forlì, Roberto Balzani.Emilia-Romagna, primarie flop. Trionfa Bonaccini col 60,9%, Il Resto del Carlino
First term On 23 November 2014, he won the regional election in Emilia-Romagna with 49.1% of the votes, defeating the centre-right candidate Alan Fabbri and becoming the 9th President of the region.Elezioni regionali in Emilia-Romagna del 2014, Ministero dell'Interno
On 20 July 2015, Bonaccini signed so-called the "Pact for Labour", a deal between regional government, trade unions and entrepreneurs, to relaunch employment in the region.Regone Emilia-Romagna – Patto per il lavoro The Pact allocated, in almost five years, more than 22 billion euros.Patto per il lavoro. Oltre 22 miliardi investiti per far ripartire l’Emilia-Romagna
On 17 December 2015, Bonaccini was elected President of the Conference of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, replacing Piedmontese President Sergio Chiamparino, who resigned a few weeks before.Bonaccini eletto presidente della conferenza delle Regioni While on 12 December 2016, he was elected president of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the largest organisation of local and regional governments in Europe.CEMR presidency
Since 2014, the regional government cut the waiting lists for patients and exams in health and opened many "health houses" for proximity medicine. Moreover, Emilia-Romagna was the first region in Italy to abolish the so-called superticket and started a drastic reduction of the fees for the nests.Emilia Romagna. Bonaccini: “Eliminato superticket con lotta agli sprechi, siamo gli unici in Italia ad averlo fatto”
In 2017 and 2018, Bonaccini's government implemented a policy aimed to increase the political and fiscal autonomy of Emilia-Romagna.Autonomia, la via dell’Emilia Romagna che ha bruciato Lombardia e Veneto. Senza spendere milioni per il referendum Bonaccini stated: "We have activated the path towards a greater regional autonomy to better face the challenges of change. We want an autonomy that respects the Constitution, national unity and solidarity between territories, which are principles that are absolutely inviolable for us, but capable of improving relations between central administration and local autonomies. Above all, we need an autonomy to strengthen investment planning, to streamline and simplify procedures, to make our services for citizens and businesses even more efficient and effective."Stefano Bonaccini – Cosa ho fatto?
During his first term, Emilia-Romagna lived a period of economic prosperity. Unemployment went down from 9% in 2014, to 4.8% in 2019, while the employment rate rose to 71%, the highest in the country.Numeri record per l'Emilia-Romagna: disoccupazione scesa al 4,8% e tasso di occupazione al 71,3%, il più alto nel Paese The region was also the first one in Italy for GDP growth from 2014 to 2019L'Emilia-Romagna è la regione che cresce di più nel 2019 and the first region for export "per capita".Emilia Romagna prima in Italia per export pro capite
2020 regional election
Despite Emilia-Romagna having always been considered one of the "red regions" – a stronghold of left-wing parties since the end of the World War II – due to the right-wing surge in the country, the 2020 regional election was considered as the first competitive one in the history of the region. Bonaccini was confirmed the centre-left candidate at the head of a coalition including the PD and its left-wing allies of Free and Equal (LeU) and Green Europe (EV), as well as More Europe (+Eu). Bonaccini also launched a personal civic list, named "Bonaccini for President", which included, among others, members from Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva (IV), Carlo Calenda's Action and Federico Pizzarotti's Italia in Comune (IiC).Regionali, Italia Viva presenta i suoi candidati a sostegno di Bonaccini
The centre-right proposed Senator Lucia Borgonzoni, member of the League (Lega) and former undersecretary to cultural activities in Giuseppe Conte's first government. The centre-right coalition included also Brothers of Italy (FdI), Forza Italia (FI) and Cambiamo! (C!).
During the campaign, Bonaccini claimed the results achieved by his administration (including the "Pact for Labour" of 2015), and proposed four priority points summed up into the slogan "A step forward": to create free kindergartens for all children in the region, to break down the waiting lists for health interventions and access times to first aid, to carry out preventive maintenance and safety of the regional territory, and to reduce the phenomenon of NEET.
The electoral campaign was characterized by a massive presence of the League's leader, Matteo Salvini, who aimed to win in Emilia-Romagna to tear down the government. However, his campaign led to the birth of the Sardines movement, a grassroots political movement, which organized a series of peaceful demonstrations to protest against the right-wing surge in the country and, more specifically, against the political rhetoric of Salvini.
On 26 January, Bonaccini was re-elected to a second term, with more than 51% of votes, against 43% of Borgonzoni. The centre-left alliance scored particularly well in Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emilia and Ravenna, where Bonaccini approached or even overcame the 60% of votes.Bonaccini vince in Emilia Romagna. Il Pd ferma Salvini. Crolla il M5S
COVID-19 pandemic In March 2020, Italy was severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic and Emilia-Romagna became one of the most affected regions. As of March 2021, Emilia-Romagna had more than 276,000 cases and 10,000 deaths were confirmed.
On 4 March, when Emilia-Romagna's regional minister of health, Raffaele Donini, was declared positive for COVID-19, Governor Bonaccini appointed Sergio Venturi as Extraordinary Commissioner for the emergency.Coronavirus Venturi, commissario per l’emergenza: «La socialità deve prendersi una pausa» Venturi served as regional minister oh health from 2014 to 2020.Coronavirus, l'assessore alla Salute, Sergio Venturi: "Dall'Emilia-Romagna il massimo impegno per contrastare il virus"
On 9 March 2020, the government of Italy under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte imposed a national quarantine, restricting the movement of the population except for necessity, work, and health circumstances in the whole country. On 16 March, Bonaccini imposed a strengthened quarantine on the municipality of Medicina, near Bologna, since it had developed an intense outbreak. People were not allowed to enter or exit the town for any reason. While on 21 March, he closed supermarkets during the weekends.Coronavirus, in Emilia-Romagna supermercati chiusi di domenica On 18 May, the lockdown officially ended.La Fase 2: ecco come l'Italia ripartirà il 18 maggio, Rai News
On 1 November 2020, Bonaccini tested positive for COVID-19, amid a pandemic resurgence in the country.Emilia-Romagna, Bonaccini positivo al coronavirus, la Repubblica On 13 November, he was hospitalized with a bilateral pneumonia and discharged after a few days.Bonaccini, notte in ospedale, la Repubblica
In March 2021, when his region was heavily hit by a third wave of the pandemic, Bonaccini imposed red zones in the provinces of Bologna, Modena and in many municipalities through Romagna.Covid, dal 4 marzo Città metropolitana di Bologna e provincia di Modena in zona rossa: nidi e materne fermi dal 6
2023 Democratic Party leadership run and party presidency