in the whole province of Rome. Member of the European Parliament In March 2004, Zingaretti run in the European election for the list United in the Olive Tree. He gained more than 213,000 preferences and was elected Member of the European Parliament. During the first meeting of the Italian delegation he was appointed President. He was also a member of the Committee on Development and Committee on International Trade. He also took part in the interparliamentary delegations for relations with the Korean Peninsula, Israel and in the parliamentary intergroup "Volunteering", "Disability", "LGBT rights" and "Tibet". From 2005 to 2007, he was rapporteur for the European Parliament on the directive IPRED2 about criminal sanctions for the protection of intellectual property rights and succeeded in pushing through a bill which uniformed the criminal sanctions in all EU Member States. The directive opposes criminal penalties for counterfeiters who import illegal and dangerous goods from countries outside the EU. The approval of the directive had a recognition by the International Herald Tribune and an MEP Award nomination, a prestigious honor that is given annually to the most deserving MEPs. On 18 November 2006, Zingaretti was elected Regional Secretary of the DS for Lazio. On 14 October 2007 was elected Regional Secretary of the new-formed Democratic Party with 282,000 votes (85.31%). On 16 June 2008, he resigned as MEP to assume the office of President of the Province of Rome. President of the Province of Rome On 28 April 2008, Zingaretti was elected President of the Province of Rome winning 51.48% of the vote. In 2010, Zingaretti refused to run as centre-left candidate in regional election and for this was heavily criticized by some members of his party, like the Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi. Few months later during the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Liberation Day on 25 April 2010, Zingaretti participated together with the new president of Lazio Renata Polverini at an event organized in Rome at Porta San Paolo. However, objects, slogans and insults were thrown toward the stage, contesting Polverini and her political background in the right-wing and Zingaretti was hit in the face by a lemon. After a few minutes, Zingaretti and Polverini were forced to abandon the event. Zingaretti's administration promoted the "ProvinciaWiFi" project, which consisted in the installation in squares, libraries and meeting places of the provincial territory, WiFi devices for free access to the Internet.