15 Facts About Roberto Maroni

Roberto Maroni was the leader of the Northern League, a party seeking autonomy or independence for Northern Italy or Padania.

Roberto Maroni served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Italian Republic in the Berlusconi I executive, from 1994 to 1995.

Roberto Maroni was Interior Minister of the Italian Republic from 1994 to 1995, and from 2008 to 2011.

Roberto Maroni was Labour Minister of the Italian Republic from 2001 to 2006.

In 1979, Maroni received a law degree with a dissertation in Civil Law, from the University of Milan.

Roberto Maroni became a lawyer after spending two years working as a Legal Affairs Manager for various companies.

Roberto Maroni became a town councilor in Varese that year.

Roberto Maroni entered the party's Federal Council and campaigned heavily for the Northern League prior to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's first Cabinet.

Roberto Maroni served as Minister of the Interior during the first Berlusconi cabinet, from 1994 to 1995.

Roberto Maroni served as Minister of Labour and Welfare from 2001 to May 2006 in Berlusconi's second and third cabinets.

In September 2006, Roberto Maroni told Vanity Fair that he downloads music illegally and thinks music should be "free and accessible to all".

Roberto Maroni added that authors should still be able to stop their work from being widely distributed on the Internet.

Roberto Maroni said his confession was intended to spark a discussion in Parliament about changing Italy's copyright laws, which are among the strictest in Europe.

On 12 May 2015, Roberto Maroni announced that his intention to introduce a basic income, as a pilot project, "to ensure all families in the region have enough money to be able to pay for basic necessities".

Roberto Maroni said that the plan was to use 220 million euros from the European Social Fund for the initiative.