Paolo Borchia (Negrar, 27 May 1980) is a North Italian politician and a Member of the European Parliament since July 2019. Biography A political science graduate of the University of Padua, he completed his education with a thesis of excellence on "Anarcho-syndicalism and Catalanism in Republican Spain (1931-1936)", after carrying out an extensive research programme at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He began his career in the marble sector as an administration and production manager for the family-run business, until he later accepted a job offer as a consultant for a financial services company. In 2010 he moved to Brussels, where he took up duties at the European Parliament in the capacity of accredited parliamentary assistant to Lorenzo Fontana MEP. After six years of service, he was appointed as political adviser to the Parliament’s Europe of Freedom and Nations (ENF) political group, which assigned him to the legislative committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the legislative committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN). Political Activity In the course of the Federal Congress of the Lega Nord which was held in Turin in December 2013 and which resulted in the election of Matteo Salvini as Secretary of the party, he was actively involved in the negotiations that would later lead to the building of the European alliance between the Lega Nord, the French Front National, the Austrian FPOE, the Dutch PVV and the Belgian Vlaams Belang. In July 2018, the party’s Federal Council appointed him as Head of its international Department "Lega nel Mondo", which focuses on supporting Italian nationals abroad as well as coordinating the political activity of the foreign sections of the party. In November 2018, he represented the party in Sofia at the meeting promoted by the Foundation for Europe of Freedoms and Nations, where he outlined the party’s strategy to reform EU governance in connection with the forthcoming European elections of 26 May. In May 2019, he run for the European elections in the constituency of the North-East of Italy and was elected with 37,441 preferences. Once in office, he was appointed as coordinator of the "Identity and Democracy" political group in the committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), while also being appointed as member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) and the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly. He began his mandate as an MEP by promoting the initiative "Enterprise and