SENATOR FRANCESCO MARIA AMORUSO
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean
Francesco Amoruso, born on 1 August 1956 in Bisceglie (Bari – Italy), graduated in Political Science and since his youth he has been actively engaged in social and political affairs. He is a member of the “Popolo della libertà” party, for which he is the Coordinator in the Region of Puglia.
He formerly served as town councillor in Bisceglie and was the first regional coordinator of the National Alliance party in Puglia. In 1994 he was elected for the first time to the Chamber of Deputies. In subsequent elections, in 1996, 2001 and 2006 he was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies. In 2008, following the elections in Puglia, he took his seat in the Senate.
With the sole exception of the period 2006-08, he always sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee of both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. He has also served as:
- Chairperson of the Committee for Italians Abroad;
- Member of the Parliamentary Committee for Oversight of the Enforcement of the Schengen Agreement, Europol Activities and Immigration Affairs;
- Member of the Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe and the Assembly of the Western European Union;
- Member of the Italian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
He also served as Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee for Oversight of Social Security Agencies (2001-06) and Deputy Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies’ Committee on Employment (2006-08).
In the current legislature he serves as Secretary MP of the Foreign Affairs Committee. In this capacity he has served, inter alia, as the Rapporteur for major bills ratifying international agreements. He is also the Deputy Chair of the Italian Delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Chairperson of the IPU Friendship Groups between Italy and Scandinavian countries, and between Italy and the Principality of Monaco. In the present Parliament he has promoted the institution of the Tunisia-Italy Parliamentary Friendship Association, of which he has been appointed Chairperson. He is also the Honorary President of the Polish-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In 2009 he was appointed, upon designation by the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, member of the Italian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM). He has coordinated, among other responsabilities, the PAM working group on the protection of the Mediterranean Sea on offshore oil exploration and drilling. He also tabled in the Italian Parliament a bill (No. 1571) on the establishment of a “Mediterranean Day”. Since his appointment on the Italian Delegation to PAM, he has served as Vice President and Chairperson of the Second Standing Committee on Economic, Social and Environmental Cooperation and Development, till his election to President of PAM in October 2012.