Nelli Feroci is the new pro tempore Italian Commissioner

Italy has decided: Ferdinando Nelli Feroci will take Antonio Tajani’s office into the European Commission. The former Ambassador and current President of the Institute for International Affairs is “a champion of institutions,” said the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after the Cabinet meeting held yesterday, “who will help us in the following four months on several European open issues.” The government would have preferred a clear definition of the European Commission in a short time, in order to appoint a permanent Commissioner. Still, during the latest European Council, Angela Merkel has scored her point: first Jean-Claude Juncker proposed as President, then the remaining names. Then Renzi had to opt for a ‘temporary solution’ and indicate the successor for Tajani, who decided to be a MEP, until November, when the new Commission will begin its term.

Still, the appointment of the Italian Commissioner was sort of incidental issue during the Cabinet: migration and justice were the core topics indeed.