Born in Rome on April 9, 1973, he is the son of Fabio Calenda, an economist, journalist, and writer, and Cristina Comencini, a film director.

[2][3] After earning a degree in law from the University of Rome "La Sapienza"[4] and prior to his institutional and political career, he worked at Confindustria as Director of Strategic International Affairs and Assistant to the President.

[5] Under the Renzi and Gentiloni governments, he served as Minister of Economic Development from May 2016, focusing on industrial policy, corporate crises, internationalization, energy, and communications.

[12] During his tenure, he led numerous delegations of Italian entrepreneurs abroad and launched the extraordinary Made in Italy plan (Law No.

[14]On January 20, 2016, the Renzi government appointed Calenda as Italy’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, replacing Ambassador Stefano Sannino.

[15] On May 10, 2016, just two months after being appointed Italy’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Calenda was recalled to Rome to assume the role of Minister of Economic Development.

On July 23, 2019, Calenda presented a motion to the PD National Directorate, approved with a large majority, stating that the Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement were and would remain incompatible due to their opposing values.

[31][32][33] On November 21, 2019, Calenda officially launched Azione (Action), his new centrist political formation,[34] alongside Senator Matteo Richetti[35] and a promotional committee.

With the fall of the Draghi government and the early dissolution of Parliament,[45] on August 2, Azione and +Europa announced they would join the Democratic Party coalition for the 2022 general elections.

[47][48][49] On August 11, Azione and Italia Viva announced their decision to run together in the elections under a single list informally known as the Third Pole, with Calenda as leader.

[54][55] Following the elections, on October 3, 2022, Calenda announced that Azione and Italia Viva would form joint parliamentary groups in both chambers and establish a federation between the two parties.

[56] On December 8, 2022, Calenda and Italia Viva leader Matteo Renzi signed an agreement for the official formation of the federation, with plans to merge into a single party.