Brussels – The right-wingers in the European Parliament shield the Italian government: the People’s Party, together with conservatives, patriots, and sovereignists, has blocked a mission to Rome by the EU Parliament’s rule-of-law monitoring group. The Democratic Party and the 5-Star Movement are on the rampage: Nicola Zingaretti urges, “What are they afraid of?”, while Gaetano Pedullà speaks of “a shameful self-censorship to save Giorgia Meloni.”
On the other hand, coming to the PM’s rescue is what in Brussels some are starting to call the “Giorgia majority” (as opposed to the “Ursula majority”, with liberals and socialists), formed precisely by the EPP, ECR, PfE, and ESN. Along the lines of precisely the government coalition in Italy, with its three souls: Forza Italia, Fratelli d’Italia, and Lega, which in Europe sit respectively on the Popular, Conservative, and Patriotic benches. According to the newspaper Politico.eu, the affair dates back to yesterday afternoon (19 November), during the Conference of Presidents (CoP), which brings together the leaders of the political groups in the EU Parliament and its president, Roberta Metsola.
The EPP has reportedly decided once more to align itself with the extreme right-wing party, breaking its “pro-European platform” commitments and scuttling a planned visit by MEPs to Italy to assess the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights in the country. The mission had already been agreed by popular, socialist, and liberal MEPs in the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), as part of a package of similar visits, including to Spain, to examine concerns about the rule of law in the socialist-led country. In the current legislature, the monitoring group, chaired by Belgian Liberal Sophie Wilmès, has already organised a series of hearings and missions to several member states.
When the group leaders gave the go-ahead, EPP leader Manfred Weber allegedly betrayed the agreement. “The Italian right-wing is failing in its goals of government; it is afraid and seeks constant enemies. Today, it is blocking the European Parliament’s mission to monitor the situation regarding the rule of law and the press in Italy. What is it afraid of?” attacked the PD delegation leader in the EU Parliament, Nicola Zingaretti. As reported by Gaetano Pedullà, MEP of the 5 Star Movement and member of the monitoring group in question, the mission “had already been approved by the coordinators of the LIBE committee with the favourable vote of German MEP Lena Dupont, of the EPP. For Pedullà, we are faced with “a shameful self-censorship orchestrated by right-wing political groups to save the Meloni government.”
Strong criticism also came from Alessandro Zan, vice-president in LIBE and part of the working group on the rule of law: “The right-wingers are trying to cover up our work, and the EPP has allied itself with the extreme right, breaking the pacts made with the progressive groups in an agreement already signed,” reconstructed Zan, adding that “this irresponsible behaviour undermines the credibility of the European Parliament and weakens actions in support of the rule of law, fundamental rights, the fight against corruption, the independence of the judiciary, the press and LGBTQIA+ rights.”
In the dem delegation, Sandro Ruotolo also joined the attack, describing the incident as “an alarming signal and a dangerous precedent.” The MEP relaunched: ‘We will not be intimidated. We will repropose the mission. Democracy is not erased by majority rule.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
