Luca Visentini

Luca Visentini (born 1969) is an Italian trade unionist. Elected general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in November 2022, he was suspended on 14 December 2022 following his arrest and conditional release in relation to the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament. On 11 March 2023, the ITUC General Council voted to dismiss him for accepting funds from Antonio Panzeri.

He was previously the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). He was reelected at the ETUC Congress in Vienna in May 2019, having been first elected in 2015. He has been active in the European trade union movement since the late 1980s, at regional, national and European Union levels.

Background After studying philosophy at the University of Trieste, in 1989, he joined the Unione Italiana de Lavoro (UIL), initially taking responsibility for the union’s youth work. In the same year he was selected as General Secretary of UIL’s Federation for Tourism, Trade and Services in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

In 1996, he became General Secretary of UIL in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and a member of the union’s national steering and executive committees, as well as General Secretary of the UIL Confederal Chamber of Labour of Trieste. His work covered a wide range of issues including collective bargaining and wages, social dialogue, industrial, labour market and economic policy, social security and public services, as well as communications and human resource management.

In October 2015, he was elected as ETUC General Secretary. He was suspended a month later, following his arrest in connection with the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament. He was dismissed on 11 March 2023 for having accepted funds from Antonio Panzeri.

Arrest

In December 2022, just days after being elected as General Secretary of ITUC, Visentini was arrested as part of the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament in which Qatar had allegedly paid large sums of cash for influence at the European Parliament. After two days in custody, Visentini was conditionally released.

Other activities Visentini is a poet and writer, publishing four books of poetry and novels between 2004 and 2012. He has headed cultural associations and networks in the fields of literature and theatre.