“Italy is Italy”. Nicola Procaccini, Giorgia Meloni’s point man in the European Parliament, has no doubts: despite the large delegation of Fratelli d’Italia in Brussels having decided, after a long hesitation, not to vote for Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as president of the EU Commission, our country will not suffer any repercussions and will obtain a weighty portfolio, as requested by the prime minister on several occasions. The reason? “We are a founding country, the second largest manufacturer and third largest economy in Europe”, explained Forza Italia’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in recent hours. Perhaps the former EU commissioner and former president of the European Parliament is right. But the road seems uphill, at least for Meloni. And Tajani himself could be the one to take advantage of it.
Meloni’s Choice
Yes, because Forza Italia, unlike FdI and Lega, is the only party in the majority to have supported von der Leyen on the day of the vote of confidence in Strasbourg. Meloni, who had abstained in the Council, seemed to want to use the weight of her 24 MEPs to obtain, in exchange for their support, a series of political guarantees from the German leader, including the Italian commissioner. But in the end the FdI delegation chose to unite with the rest of the EU right-wing galaxy, justifying this choice in light of von der Leyen’s agreement with the Greens (whose votes were fundamental for the re-election). “We are serious people, moderate but very determined on our values, on our principles”, explained Procaccini.
There are those who think, however, that Meloni and her right-hand man in Strasbourg played their cards badly during the negotiations, and in the end, knowing that they were no longer essential for confidence because of the Greens, preferred to protect themselves from criticism within their own government (read Lega) and within the ECR, and not offer arguments to Viktor Orban’s Patriots, the sovereignist group that is competing with the conservatives for the scepter of the European right. In other words, Meloni seems to have made a choice as the leader of a political faction. However, weakening, this is the accusation that the opposition is making in these hours, Italy’s role in the new power structure in Brussels.
Tajani, one of the big shots of the EPP, the leading political force in Europe and von der Leyen’s party, assures from the height of his experience that it will not be like that: “We must not think as if we were in Montecitorio or Palazzo Madama, in Brussels it is a completely different thing, there is a majority that voted for von der Leyen, there is the majority that voted for (Roberta) Metsola (for the presidency of the European Parliament, ed.) and one that voted for the vice-presidents of the Parliament”, including two exponents of the ECR (and a loyal supporter of Meloni, Antonella Sberna). “We will still take a heavy commissioner”, he added.
Which commissioner?
The name that has been circulating for some time, and about which rumors have intensified, is that of Raffaele Fitto, the former MEP who, leaving FI and the EPP, took FdI by the hand in Europe and brought Meloni to the top of the ECR. “I am convinced that Fitto is the best possible commissioner because he knows European affairs,” said Tajani. But the Foreign Minister himself could try to steal the seat from Fitto to give it to a non-partisan figure, but close to Forza Italia (and the Popular Party). How?
Thanks to his privileged relationship with von der Leyen, Tajani could guarantee Meloni (who is responsible for nominating the Italian candidate) that important portfolio that the Prime Minister could see denied in the first instance due to the lack of support for the German leader. The new commissioner for the Mediterranean promised by von der Leyen (and welcomed by Fitto himself in the decisive hours of the vote of confidence) may have a high-sounding name, a brand that can be spent in Italy, but it certainly does not seem like the portfolio capable of influencing the fate of Europe.
Different, however, is the discussion on the Commissioner for Agriculture, perhaps also with competences on climate, a portfolio that Minister Francesco Lollobrigida has his eye on. And yet, Tajani himself a few days ago had publicly supported that the new head of Agriculture should be a member of the EPP (putting out the sights of Lollobrigida, who is part of the ECR). Some might interpret the sortie of the head of the Farnesina as a “If you want that job, you have to come to me”.
