For weeks the appointment of Raffaele Fitto has been in the balance, with the Italian minister risking being stripped of his position as vice-president of the European Commission. But in the end Giorgia Meloni’s man not only won, but brought home another important result for the prime minister: the Conservatives and Reformists (Ecr), the European group of which Fratelli d’Italia is part, are have become fully part of the majority in support of Ursula von der Leyen’s executive. Whether their opponents like it or not.
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The Conservatives are now closer than ever to the European People’s Party, the main force in the Community Assembly, with the EPP fighting tooth and nail to defend Fitto. And with which the ECR, during the legislature, will be able to team up and give the center-left a hard time, especially when it comes to burying (or in any case weakening) environmentalist measures.
The battle on Fitto
The nomination game began with the Conservatives locked in defense to protect their only vice-presidential candidate, while the Socialists raised their voices and attacked the Italian and threatened to topple him. And in the end, however, the socialists found themselves on the defensive, and to save their Spanish candidate Teresa Ribera, they ended up capitulating across the board and giving their support to Fitto. And swallowing the first of many toads that they will be forced to swallow during the legislature.
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The green light for the Italian as executive vice president definitively marks the exit from the cordon sanitaire of the Ecr group, which in addition to FdI also includes the Poles of Law and Justice, the nationalist and Eurosceptic party of Jaroslaw Kaczyński. In short, conservatives are no longer considered radical right.
Turn right
“The Von der Leyen commission in just three months went from a center-left coalition to a new center-right coalition”, was the bitter summary of the situation of the members of the Italian Green delegation (Cristina Guarda, Ignazio Marino, Leoluca Orlando and Benedetta Scuderi). Only Greens and Left ultimately voted against Fitto. “We are very surprised by the support of the socialists, who next week will vote on the new Commission, joining the votes of the European sovereignists including Meloni’s Italian right, denying the mandate of their electors and voters”, added the four Italian deputies. And indeed the change is evident.
Last July 18, von der Leyen obtained the confidence of the European Parliament for a second mandate with a solid pro-European majority. Then the German People’s Party had 401 votes in favour, 40 more than the minimum majority of 361 out of 720 seats, and exactly the sum of the votes of the parties that support it: People’s Party, Socialists and Liberals. But in reality there had been around 50 snipers and von der Leyen had been saved by the Greens, who with their 53 parliamentarians had supported the reconfirmation in a united manner, effectively positioning themselves as a sort of external support.
Ppe kingmaker
However, the People’s Party do not want to collaborate with environmentalists at all and actually intend to dismantle the Green Deal where still possible. And now that they no longer need their votes they are ready to upset all the balances, positioning themselves as the true kingmakers of the legislature. Following the line dictated by the German Manfred Weber, they have now amply demonstrated that they do not believe in any type of ‘cordon sanitaire’ and that they are ready to ally themselves with the most radical right in the Chamber.
Several times the EPP has teamed up in Parliament not only with the ECR, but also with the Patriots for Europe of Viktor Orban, Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini, and also with the Europe of the sovereign nations of the German AfD. Together these groups have 375 deputies, less than the 401 of the People’s Party, Socialists and Liberals, but still the majority of the Chamber. And they are ready to join when necessary.
To break the impasse that had been created between the vice-presidents, Weber was ultimately forced to sign a document with the leader of the socialists Iratxe Garcia Perez and that of the liberals Valérie Hayer, in which the three committed to following the guidelines set by von der Leyen in July. But the text is in fact not binding, and there is no commitment not to collaborate with the far right. In short, Weber, with the help of Meloni’s conservatives, will be able to continue to do good and bad weather.
