Giovanni Kessler (Trento, June 11, 1956) is an Italian politician of the Democratic Party. President of the Council of the Autonomous Province of Trento from December 2, 2008; since 2010 he seats at the head of the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).Previously he was a member of the Democratic Left, and before a Christian Democrat. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2006.
Giovanni is the son of Bruno Kessler (1924–1991), former president of the province of Trento and vice-minister to the Interior. He graduated in law at the University of Bologna. In 1985 he became magistrate and was deputy prosecutor in the courts of Trento and Bolzano. Between 1995 and 1996 he worked in Caltanissetta (Sicily) at the anti-mafia Directorate.[1]
He was elected Deputy in 2001, taking part in the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on the Telekom Serbia affair (an ungrounded allegation of fraud upon the ruling centre-left government) [2] but was not re-candidated to the next election.[3] He was Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from 2003 in 2006.
He is a supporter of the Democratic Party and has strongly criticized the choice of Dellai, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento, not to enter the PD in Trentino.[4] In the party primaries, has supported the candidacy of Rosy Bindi against Walter Veltroni.[5]
From September 2006 till August 2008 he was High Commissioner to Combat Counterfeiting, appointed by Romano Prodi as proposed by the Minister of Economic Development Pier Luigi Bersani.[6]
It was elected to the Provincial Council on the 9 November 2008 in the ranks of the Democratic Party of Trentino, obtaining 4789 personal preferences.[7] On December 2, 2008 he was elected chairman of the Council of the Autonomous Province of Trento.[8]
On 20 October 2009 he succeeds to Herwig van Staa (Tyrol) at the head of CALRE (Conference of Regional Legislative Assemblies of 'European Union) with an ambitious programme of improving the ability of regional assemblies to participate in the decision-making of the Union.[9]
In 2009 he starts with Dieter Steger (SVP) and Herwig van Staa (ÖVP), chairmen of the legislative assemblies of South Tyrol and Tyrol, the project of a Euroregion that, for the three territories, would represent a recovery of historical Tyrol. The project takes place October 29, 2009 at the XIV Dreier Landtag. In this joint session, the legislative assemblies of the autonomous provinces of Trentino and South Tyrol and Tyrol unanimously approved the Euroregion Tyrol – South Tyrol – Trentino.[10]
Since December 2010, he seats at the head of OLAF, the Anti-Fraud office of the European Union.[11]