EU, from von der Leyen’s profile Fitto emerges as right name for “top” commissioner role

Brussels – Raffaele Fitto? He’s OK: resume and profile are fine to serve as EU commissioner, probably with something extra. From EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen comes the approval for the name made by the government for the next college of commissioners. Not directly, but it comes. Von der Leyen, pressed by journalists about her next team, reminds that she looks at two basic requirements: competence and gender. She explains, “Competence means having already held high political positions such as prime minister, minister, or high positions in the EU institutions.”

Based on the political profile produced by von der Leyen, it emerges how Fitto’s path fits well with the requirements. Raffaele Fitto, current minister for European Affairs and the South, previously served as minister for regional affairs and cohesion between 2008 and 2011. At the European level, on the other hand, he served as co-chair of the Conservative Group (ECR) in the European Parliament between 2019 and 2022, in addition to his role as a “simple” MEP. In short, the Meloni government has offered von der Leyen a name that is difficult to see as unsuitable. On the contrary, he seems to be receiving the endorsement of the case and ensuring that Italy can have the weighty role that majority parties and Council President Giorgia Meloni claim in the next commission.

But it’s not just competence that counts. There is the gender requirement, and von der Leyen claims what has been achieved. “If I had not sent the letter the member states, today the composition of the Commission would be four women and 21 men,” stresses the outgoing and incoming chairwoman of the EU executive. A calculation from which von der Leyen herself and High Representative Kaja Kallas are excluded, as they are out of the negotiations for commissioners as part of the package of so-called “top jobs”, the top institutional posts on which leaders agreed in June.

“I have fought to make sure that women have access to decision-making positions, but if you don’t ask, it doesn’t happen on its own,” von der Leyen insists. Compared to a scenario of just four women commissioners (plus two), “now we have a double-digit number.” Of course, she acknowledges, “the path is difficult, but my determination does not stop.” Words that hint that she is ready to ask for additional female names—that still meet the competence requirement.