Italy’s unwarranted victimhood toward the EU

I read today’s Italian newspapers, and I am perplexed. In general, the tone of the editorials, in all or most newspapers, of all inclinations, is one of a victimized Italy mistreated at the EU nomination table. Some say Italy has been sidelined, others that the election results were not taken into account, while others yet claim that Giorgia Meloni (who knows why we have to personalize everything on one person, even if the head of government) has been cornered and forced into silence.

This does not correspond to the reality of the facts.

Let’s start with the election results. The radical right-wing certainly did well. So did the center-right of the EPP. Just the same, however, this result, driven by countries such as Italy and France, was not widespread throughout the Union. In some countries, the radical right-wing retreated, like in Northern Europe or Poland, or it did not, for now at least, present a credible alternative to the incumbent governments. In France, however, where, in terms of numbers, this occurred, the President of the Republic called early elections to offer the citizens the chance to change, even radically, the majority in the national parliament.

In European elections — let’s not forget that this is the context that we are dealing with, and it is in this context that the 27 member states choose —  the radical right remained in the minority for parliamentary seats; the EPP significantly consolidated its relative majority. Also, the EPP includes an important, apparently growing part of the Italian government, represented by Forza Italia. The numbers say — and I say this for those who play victims by claiming that the right-wing wave in Europe is not being considered — that there is no center-right majority in the European Parliament. The numbers are not there. Voters did not grant them. And so that’s it; end of discussion.

Even among European governments, there is no right-wing majority. True, there are many of them, and they are growing, but, at the moment, they cannot form a majority, while those that refer to the forces that have traditionally governed the Union and still hold a majority in Parliament are.

Having said all this, let us see if the Italian government has been marginalized. As mentioned above, one of the forces that make up the majority is part of the European People’s Party. So it is assumed, but the words of Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani confirm it, that this party is in line with the rest of the EPP and is, therefore, part of the “majority” that won the elections and decided to confirm Ursula von der Leyen as head of the Commission. Then there is the League, which has had and continues to have a picketing attitude against the whole Union, against von der Leyen in particular, but which has not offered an alternative proposal nor has it not worked on creating a different proposal by seeking partners in the Union.

And then there is Giorgia Meloni, head of the government and leader of Fratelli d’Italia and the European Conservatives and Reformists party. Meloni has never hidden the fact that she has good relations with von der Leyen; there are photos, statements, trips, and facts that prove it. In the month or so leading up to the elections, the image the two gave was one of sober detachment, and that is expected ahead of an election that saw them on opposite sides. But Meloni never objected to von der Leyen’s nomination for a second term; I would even say she explicitly supported it. In several public speeches, the Commission President made clear that she intends to work with Meloni and her party in Parliament, even incurring the wrath of her liberal and social democratic allies.

At this stage, therefore, Italy has not been marginalized. It has been able to have its say. Of course, it has not been able to “decide,” it has not been able to indicate an alternative candidate, but, being part, politically, of a minority among European governments, it has already played its game well by confirming a good relationship with the one who is most likely to be the next President of the Commission.

And then there is the parliamentary game. One minute after getting the nomination from governments, von der Leyen will have to go looking for a majority in Parliament. Even though she has a majority of 46 MEPs, the President of the Commission is not quiet because she knows that some sharpshooters (the vote is secret) will be there, particularly in her party, the EPP, which does not show united support. So she has to find some votes in other groups, and she has already stated that she prefers to look for them precisely in the ECR, Meloni’s party, which will, therefore, have room to negotiate something in return if she decides that a few votes can get her there.

There is no reason for Italy to play the victim. The governing majority plays a game that, at least for now, is a minority in the Union and, therefore, certainly cannot be the one to choose for others since others share a European project that much of the Italian government says it does not share. However, that Meloni has been cornered and silenced is not true.