The following are thumbnail profiles of key ministers in the government being sworn in Friday:

 Paolo Savona

 The controversial Eurosceptic economist took up the role of Minister of European Affairs having previously been vetoed by Italian President Sergio Mattarella to become minister of economy.

 81-year-old Savona’s initial rejection brought an end to Conte’s first government formation attempt, having been tenaciously backed by Di Maio and Salvini.

 Savona’s repositioning still spells a high threat to the EU, having previously labelled the euro a “historic error” and a “German cage” on the Italian economy whilst tensions mount between Rome and Brussels.

Giovanni Tria

 Economics professor at Tor Vergata University in Rome assumed the responsibility of Minister of Economy after the original choice of Savona was overruled.

 Tria has worked as a delegate of the Italian government in the Board of directors of the International Labour Office. His new role will see him tackle reforms to VAT and Flat tax whilst addressing the sensitive issue of the euro.

 Tria is a renowned supporter of the M5S-League flat tax policy, arguing that it triggers upward growth trends that generate additional tax revenue. This, in turn, should compensate the initial cost of reducing tax rates.

Enzo Moavero Milanesi

 Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi is an independent politician who had also been weighed up for a cabinet role in Carlo Cottarelli’s standby efforts to form an interim technical government.

 The professor of law at LUISS, a private university in Rome, has previously served as Minister of European Affairs under the Monti and Letta governments between 2011 and 2014.

 Formerly a first-grade judge at the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg and the European Commission’s director general of the Bureau of European Policy Advisors, Moavero will become Italy’s minister of foreign affairs.

 His latest assignment will involve extremely delicate, strategic management amid growing tensions across Europe of the incoming populist government.

 Elisabetta Trenta

  The M5S professor at Link Campus University in Rome, who has worked in military security across strife-torn regions of the Middle East, became Italy's new Minister of Defence.

 Trenta, a political science graduate from La Sapienza in Rome who speaks four languages, has previously worked as a political advisor to the Foreign Ministy in Iraq under the government of Silvio Berlusconi.

 In 2012, she coordinated a project in Libya aiming to reduce the number of illegal armaments and has been highly involved in social work, carrying out duties as vice president of both 'Children of Nassiriya Onlus', centred around works in Iraq, and the 'Magic Flute'.

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