The letter from the Italian government indicating the nominations for the new Commission has not yet been sent. Others have done so. Giorgia Meloni has not. After all, Ursula von der Leyen wants to have all the names by August 30. She had hoped to have them even two weeks earlier, but there is no strict deadline. The fit is not easy, the task of the President of the Commission is not enviable. She must deal with a more composite and multifaceted majority than that of the first mandate. And with a mosaic of personalities, origins, compatibilities that would make one shiver even in the torrid climate of this summer.
In fact, the letter from Rome has not been sent. The Meloni government is checking checks and balances, risks and opportunities. This August break can bring the waiting clearing. And may it happen right in Puglia, the land of Raffaele Fitto. The minister of cohesion (and of the PNRR) is at the seaside, it is true, but with the engines running to reach Giorgia Meloni, a short distance away in Ceglie Massapica, as is Matteo Salvini, a guest of the nearby masseria of Bruno Vespa. A meeting between them – also present at Meloni’s resort was Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, with his wife Arianna – is not on the official agendas but is to be taken for granted, confirms a source from the inner circle. It will not be a coincidence if Alfredo Mantovano also arrived in those parts. And just yesterday the order was given to the journalists crowded outside the prime minister’s resort to move away, also to stop taking note of every car arriving and leaving.
The discretion of August is required The deadline by which von der Leyen wants to have chosen all the commissioners who will be part of her team important moments. So while the Italians will be under the beach umbrella, a part of the government will be gathered in the shade of the olive trees of Borgo Egnazia. But not everything could go smoothly. Moving Raffaele Fitto, a true ace of the executive capable of mending every rift with Europe, has as many advantages as disadvantages. For him, a bridge between the EPP and the ECR, the path to the commissioner for competition could open up. Or for cohesion, which is his subject. “Meloni knows that if she moves a beam, it triggers a domino effect. A shifting of boxes that can bring everything down”, they whisper in the upper floors of via della Scrofa. The minister and former governor of Puglia has already received the yes of his allies, including the definitive one of Fulvio Martusciello, head of Forza Italia’s European delegation: “For us, the only name to indicate is that of Fitto”. However, reality must be taken into account. And with Europe. In the indications, von der Leyen asked each government to submit two names, not just one. A man and a woman.
Many governments have turned a deaf ear and presented only male candidacies. “Too many men!”, Ursula allegedly vented. Emmanuel Macron has asked for the reconfirmation of the Commissioner for Industry, Thierry Breton, for France. Poland, quick to come forward, is aiming for the balance sheet, with Donald Tusk indicating the name of Piotr Serafin. Now that it is up to Prime Minister Meloni to prepare her letter, will she stick to the request for names with alternating gender or – as she has made known several times – will she evaluate what is best to do regardless of the gender quotas? The name of Elisabetta Belloni has been circulating for months, who Palazzo Chigi would like to see as Commissioner for Migrants. If the Italian government is on the defensive, in Europe, it might as well be defended by those who know how to do it. The Sherpas say that Belloni’s name is on the table, but as a reserve name. They even playfully hazard a prediction: “75% Fitto, 25% Belloni.”
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2024-08-15 20:36:49
