“It is surreal that the names of the main EU posts are being presented without even pretending to discuss the signals given by voters,” she fumed on Wednesday. The Italian was referring to the deal, announced the day before, by the negotiators of the European People’s Party (the conservative Greek and Polish Prime Ministers, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Donald Tusk), the socialists (the Spaniard Pedro Sanchez and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz). and liberals (French President Emmanuel Macron and outgoing Minister-President of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte). The six leaders agreed to reappoint Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president, to install the Estonian Kaja Kallas as head of European diplomacy and the Portuguese Antonio Costa as president of the European Council.
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Packed, is it weighed? If these names have been circulating for months, Giorgia Meloni would have liked to have her say. By principle. And to see this team also reflect the success of his party – as well as his political family of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and in general extremist forces – in the European elections. Hungarian Prime Minister Vikor Orban echoed this request on Thursday. “European voters have been deceived. The EPP has formed a coalition of lies with the left and the liberals. We do not support this shameful agreement!”, he said.
A voice that carries…
Giorgia Meloni’s voice carries more weight at the European level than Mr Orban’s. Far from adopting the Hungarian’s sabotage strategy, she has sought to place herself at the heart of European dynamics. Not without success: Ms von der Leyen has been courting the Italian for months, to be sure of obtaining the necessary support for her nomination by the European Parliament, scheduled for mid-July. While Fratelli d’Italia gathered 28% of the votes in the Boot, Giorgia Meloni can also claim to have emerged stronger from the European elections, unlike Emmanuel Macron or Olaf Scholz. Furthermore, Italy remains a founding member state and the third demographic and economic power of the Union.
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Yes, but. Giorgia Meloni can hardly make people forget her far-right label and her cronyism with anti-European forces. Moreover, although the ECR has gained weight in the European Parliament, going from 69 to 83 seats, it is neither willing nor invited to form the “von der Leyen majority” with the EPP, the socialists and the liberals. “What we need in the next five years is political stability. […] These three political groups are ready to work together in the interest of all Europeans,” declared the resigning Belgian (liberal) Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo.
Thursday evening, European leaders were still trying to rally the Italian, but without giving in too much.
Moreover, if the ECR thought it could become the third force in the chamber, its 20 Polish members of the PiS would be tempted, according to Politico, to slam the door to form a group with Viktor Orban’s Fidesz, the Action of Discontented Citizens of the Czech Andrej Babis and the Slovenian Democratic Party of Janez Jansa. Above all, regardless of the weight of the ECR, the moods of Mrs Meloni or Mr Orban, the nominations for top jobs can be decided – in the absence of consensus – by a qualified majority vote…
…But not too much anyway
At the time of writing, the other European heads of state and government, favouring a decision by consensus, were still trying to avoid raising this option, seeking to flatter the Italian. “No one respects Prime Minister Meloni and Italy more than I do. […] There is no Europe without Italy and no decision without Ms. Meloni,” assured Mr. Tusk upon his arrival. “The Twenty-seven are all as important as each other,” added Ms. . Scholz. The core of the Union’s power, however, remains in the hands of the pro-European forces. For the moment, the Netherlands is on the verge of having a far-right government. dangerously with this scenario, a prospect that Viktor Orban described on Thursday, according to The Guardian, as a “ray of sunshine”…
