New EU leaders, here is Meloni’s canvas that will put the tax cut for 2025 on the table

Listen to the audio version of the article

Nobody is unbalanced. In official statements everyone – including Giorgia Meloni – define any hypothesis as premature, postponing the opening of the debate until after the vote on 8 and 9 June. But negotiations on the future EU government are actually already underway and will be at the center of face-to-face which will take place in the margins of the European Council on 17 and 18 April.

Delicate match

It is a very delicate match for the prime minister, destined to have direct consequences also on the internal front, the national one. This can already be understood by observing the electoral campaign, the multiplication of clashes between allies with Matteo Salvini – last example – which proposes a mini building amnesty without the knowledge of Meloni (and also of the Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani) and which makes the European deputies of the League in Strasbourg vote against the new Pact for migration and asylum supported instead by the Italian government, the Prime Minister’s Brothers of Italy and Forza Italia.

The intervention on taxes

This is the climate. Which is not destined to improve after the vote. The publication in recent days of a Def without programmatic indications – which is dramatically affected by the surge in building bonuses – was motivated by the need to deal with the new rules of the Stability Pact. However, this justification is destined to disappear in the coming months, when the executive will send the medium-term structural fiscal plan to Brussels in September. In essence, the numbers for the next maneuver. The first objective – reiterated by Meloni and also by the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti – is to confirm the cutting of the tax wedge and the merging of the Irpef rates which are worth a total of approximately 14 billion. Going back, giving up aid and increasing taxes and contributions on paychecks is not a viable option for the prime minister.

The resources issue and the European issue

The big question mark remains as to where to find the resources. A search that will take place when the infringement procedure for excessive deficit and with an increasing debt also due to the super bonus has probably already been opened. The relationship with Brussels therefore remains decisive. Meloni knows this well, so much so that from the beginning of his adventure at Palazzo Chigi he has favored dialogue with European leaders, with the president of the Strasbourg Parliament Roberta Metsolawith the President of the European Council, Charles Micheland with the outgoing President of the Commission and candidate for an encore from the EPP, Ursula von der Leyen. Meloni has established a solid relationship with her both on the defense of Ukraine and on migration fronts (see the trips together to Tunisia and Egypt but also the green light for the centers in Albania wanted by the Italian government). But beyond the support for von der Leyen, whose candidacy is encountering various obstacles, the prime minister’s bet is to still be among the protagonists of the negotiations that will decide the new European structure. To achieve this you must first present yourself with a consistent and faithful number of deputies.

On the pitch for the Europeans

For this reason she is ready to take the field personally, leading Fdi in all the constituencies, and almost exclusively nominating “political personnel” i.e. party people who answer directly to her. It is the share package with which you expect to be able to direct at least part of the games. Including those that will open the day after the verdict of the polls on the parliamentary groups. Meloni will remain in the ECR, the Conservative party so far dominated by the Polish Pis but of which Fdi is destined to become the majority shareholder. It’s not just about numbers but also about specific weight. And Meloni’s is tall. The agreements will be made in the European Council before being made in Parliament. The leaders of the 27 will decide who will lead the EU for the next 5 years. And if Meloni manages to be the protagonist of the new structure she will have credits to boast and to spend.