delegation of Forza Italia to the European Parliament from June 1999 until May 2008. Since 2002 (the year of the Estoril Congress) Tajani has been one of 10 vice-presidents of the European People's Party. He was re-elected at the Rome Congress in 2006 and at the Bonn conference in 2009, and then again at the Bucharest Congress in 2012. At the 2004 European elections he was elected from a list of Forza Italia in the Central college, receiving 122,000 preferences. He was admitted to the European People's Party. Tajani was an MEP for Central Italy with the Forza Italia party from 2004 to 2008 and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was a substitute for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and a member of the Delegation for relations with Israel. He was a member of the European Convention, which drafted the text of the European Constitution that never entered into force. He is a member of the Working Group on the Conference on the Future of Europe. European Commissioner for Transport On 8 May 2008, he was appointed as Italy's EU Commissioner by newly elected Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, replacing Franco Frattini, who became the new Italian foreign minister. Tajani received the Commissioner for Transport portfolio. He was officially approved in his post by the European Parliament on 18 June 2008 with a vote of 507 to 53 with 64 abstentions. He also served as Vice-President of the European Commission. In this role, Tajani promoted the rescue plan for Alitalia, through the involvement of private funding in the airline capital. His plan was not successful and Alitalia is remains in terminal administration only supported by illegal state aid. Tajani oversaw the drafting of new EU Regulation relating to transport, including clarification of the rights of passengers in air transport. The aim was for passengers to receive assistance and reimbursement in case of denied boarding, cancellation or delay of the flight. The proposals were poor, resulting in widespread evasion by the airlines across Europe and abuse by customers. Both parties have called for reform of the legislation to make it fair and workable. European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship In 2009 he was reappointed as a member of Italian nationality of the second Barroso Commission, as European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship; he remained one of the four Vice-Presidents of the Commission.