Brussels – After the frictions of last summer, when Giorgia Meloni’s group in the European Parliament chose not to support Ursula von der Leyen’s re-election, the relationship between the Italian premier and the president of the European Commission has been steadily improving. Von der Leyen’s frequent participation in informal meetings promoted by Meloni – the latest yesterday – on “innovative solutions” to combat irregular migration confirms this. Still, this morning (Dec. 20), the two leaders met at the Berlaymont Palace, the headquarters of the EU executive, before Meloni left for Lapland, where the Finnish prime minister will host a North-South summit over the weekend.
The priorities for action in the new European institutional cycle were at the center of the bilateral meeting between von der Leyen and Meloni, a statement from Palazzo Chigi explains. The Italian premier reportedly addressed, in particular, the “strong concerns of the domestic agricultural sector” over the signing of the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement and, subsequently, the prospects of the struggling automotive sector in the face of the green transition.
There was also “special attention” to European migration policy, the statement added. Von der Leyen and Meloni reportedly took stock of the results achieved so far – 220,000 irregular entries in the first eleven months of 2024, down by 40 percent compared to 2023 and by 60 percent on the central Mediterranean route – and then reasoned about what still needs doing “to have effective tools for managing the migration phenomenon.” The talks lasted about an hour, after which they were scheduled to leave for the summit in Finland.
Migration, which has returned powerfully to the top priorities in Brussels and several governments in member countries, will again be among the topics at a summit with leaders of northern and southern European countries hosted by Finland’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, on Saturday, Dec. 21 and Sunday, Dec. 22, in Saariselkä.
In addition to Meloni, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, Greek Prime Minister Kyriákos Mitsotákis, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson are also expected in Lapland. The latter met von der Leyen in Brussels before she met the Italian premier. Both Mitsotákis and Kristersson, moreover, have embraced the push the Italian premier is giving to being open to “innovative solutions” to counter the entry of migrants into Europe and were present at yesterday’s meeting before the European summit.
On the agenda – besides the instrumentalization of migration and border security – are European security, defense, and preparedness. Confirming Brussels’ increasingly explicit tendency to link the two issues, that is, to make migration essentially a mere security issue. The summit “will provide an opportunity to discuss issues confidentially and come up with ideas for new initiatives,” the Finnish government explained in a statement.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
