Antonio Parenti appointed Director for Public Health at the European Commission

Brussels – The European Commission decided today to appoint Antonio Parenti as director for “Public Health, Cancer, and Health Security” in the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE). This department is responsible for EU food safety and health policy and implementation of related laws. The effective date will be determined at a later date.

Being a highly experienced civil servant and policy maker, with 30 years of professional career in the European Commission both at headquarters and in delegations, Parenti brings significant knowledge and experience into his new role. In addition to his robust management experience, he will also draw on his “profound understanding of key policy issues and legal frameworks in a variety of EU policy fields along with excellent interpersonal, decision-making and negotiating skills and a very good capacity to communicate effectively and to build trusted relationships, also in crisis management situations,” according to a statement.

Parenti, an Italian national, is currently the Head of Representation of the European Commission to Italy. Previously he was Head of the Economic, Trade and Development Section at the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations (UN) in New York, where he oversaw the preparation of the UN General Assembly High-level meeting on universal health coverage and negotiated a number of resolutions related to health policies, such as the resolution on global health and foreign policy. Parenti was also Deputy Chief Negotiator for the EU-Japan FTA at the Commission’s Directorate General for Trade.

He joined the Commission in 1995 right after completing his master’s degree in International Relations at School of Advanced Studies of the Johns Hopkins University (Washington DC and Bologna). He holds a degree in law and in European law both from the University of Bologna.