EU, the commissioners’ game. Von der Leyen asks for names, Belloni in pole position on Fitto –

Leonardo Ventura

July 26, 2024

Ursula asks for the names of the commissioners. The letter from President von der Leyen has arrived, asking the 26, including Italy, to indicate, within a month, their candidacies for the Commission, respecting the sacrosanct principle of gender equality. The government’s objective on paper, therefore, is to bring home two seats. An aim, however, not entirely obvious, considering that the requests are numerous and the available positions do not abandon. Reason for which it is not excluded that the majority branded Meloni could be forced to make some sacrifices. It is not certain, in fact, that our country will be reserved a vice president and a commissioner with a strong delegation, such as the one for the Economy, repeatedly requested by Palazzo Chigi.

Even if she could not express it explicitly, the vote against by Fratelli d’Italia would have irritated the newly elected president quite a bit, who, even though she knows she must guarantee what is due to Italy, certainly has no intention of giving more than what is due to those who did not support her. There is more than a chance, therefore, that of the two slots destined for our country, only one will remain. This is why a name between the minister of the PNRR Raffaele Fitto and the head of the Intelligence Services Elisabetta Belloni could be skipped. In this perspective, the name to be sacrificed, as the palace rumors say, would be that of the minister for the PNRR Raffaele Fitto. On the contrary, the stock of the head of the Intelligence Services Elisabetta Belloni is rising.

Between a political profile and a technical one, since there is no possibility of guaranteeing the classic tandem man-woman, in fact, one should lean towards the second option, that is, the one that divides less and that could find greater convergence. This, moreover, would also be the way to avoid a super-reshuffle in the executive of Piazza Colonna. Usually when there is a rotation in the boxes that count, enemies increase and friends decrease.