Lara Comi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 2 November 2022 – 15 July 2024 | |
| Constituency | North-West Italy |
| In office 14 July 2009 – 1 July 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1983-02-18) 18 February 1983 Garbagnate Milanese, Italy |
| Party | FI (since 2013) PdL (2009–2013) FI (2002–2009) |
| Alma mater | Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Bocconi University |
Lara Comi (born 18 February 1983) is an Italian politician. A member of Forza Italia, she was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2019 and again from 2022 to 2024.
Early life and education
Comi was born in Garbagnate Milanese on 18 February 1983.1 She studied at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, graduating in the management of international markets in 2005. Two years later she took a master's degree in the economics of business and international markets at Bocconi University.2
Early career
After university Comi worked as an assistant product manager at the cosmetics firm Beiersdorf from October 2007 to February 2008, and from 2008 as a brand manager at the toy company Giochi Preziosi.2 She came into politics as a Forza Italia activist in Saronno and worked as an assistant to Mariastella Gelmini, who later became Minister of Education.3 She was regional coordinator of the party's youth movement in Lombardy and stood as a candidate at the 2008 Italian general election.2
Member of the European Parliament
Comi was first elected to the European Parliament in 2009, aged 26, with 63,158 preference votes, and took office on 14 July that year.3 In the seventh Parliament she sat on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (2012–14) and on the delegations for relations with Afghanistan (2009–10) and Latin America (2010–14), and on the EU–Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee (2010–14).4 When The People of Freedom dissolved in November 2013, she moved to the re-formed Forza Italia.5
At the 2014 election she held her North-West Italy seat with 83,987 votes and became a vice-president of the European People's Party group in the eighth Parliament.6 Her term ended on 1 July 2019.
She returned to the Parliament on 2 November 2022, taking the seat that Silvio Berlusconi gave up when he chose to sit in the Senate.3 Back with Forza Italia in the EPP group, she joined the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. Her second term ended on 15 July 2024, with the close of the ninth parliamentary term.78
Legal proceedings
In 2014 Comi was found guilty of defaming a political rival, whom she had described on television as having a "mafia background".9 She was also sanctioned for employing her mother as an assistant in her parliamentary office, and repaid the sum.310
In November 2019 Comi was placed under house arrest in the "Mensa dei poveri" ("soup kitchen") investigation, which examined alleged kickbacks and public appointments in the provinces of Milan, Varese and Novara.11 A first-instance court sentenced her to four years and two months in prison on 2 October 2023.12
On 15 January 2026 the Milan Court of Appeal cleared Comi of corruption and of one of the two fraud charges, holding that the offence had not taken place. It cut her sentence to a suspended one-year term and a €500 fine, and convicted her only of fraud against the European Union budget over her local assistant's expenses; that money had been repaid in full.13141516
The court's reasons, published on 16 June 2026, found no proof of a corrupt agreement and ruled that some of the chat messages on file could not be used as evidence.17 Comi said she would seek a full acquittal at the Court of Cassation.13
References
References
- "Lara COMI". European Parliament. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Lara COMI". EPP Group in the European Parliament. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Lara Comi, chi è". Il Giorno (in Italian). Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Lara COMI". Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- "Composizione del gruppo FORZA ITALIA - IL POPOLO DELLA LIBERTA' - BERLUSCONI PRESIDENTE". Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- "Lara Comi eletta vicepresidente del Gruppo PPE al Parlamento europeo". 4 June 2014. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- "Lara COMI — 9th parliamentary term". European Parliament. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "(Lara) Comi". EU Monitor. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Lara Comi condannata a risarcire ex sindaco Ferrara. Lo definì "mafioso" in tv". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 7 November 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- "Lo scandalo dei rimborsi Ue: sotto inchiesta anche altri deputati italiani". Rai News (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- "Lara Comi, cade l'accusa di corruzione nell'inchiesta "mensa dei poveri". Resta un anno per truffa all'Ue". La Stampa (in Italian). 15 January 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Caso Mensa dei poveri, l'eurodeputata di Forza Italia Lara Comi condannata a 4 anni e 2 mesi". Open (in Italian). 2 October 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- "Ex Berlusconi party ex MEP acquitted on appeal". ANSA. 15 January 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Lara Comi: Court of Appeal ruled that it was not corruption, convicting her only of EU fraud. Sentence reduced from four years and two months to one year". Eunews. 15 January 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Lara Comi assolta nel processo d'Appello per corruzione: la sentenza". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 15 January 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Corruption: Lara Comi acquitted on appeal, sentence reduced to one year". L'Unione Sarda. 15 January 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- "Lara Comi assolta in appello dall'accusa di corruzione: "Nessuna prova di un accordo"". Rai News (in Italian). 16 June 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.