EU’s big six (with Giorgetti in Rome) to relaunch Union: “We want to set the pace for competitiveness”

Brussels – Counting in Europe, but thinking about Italy. The Meloni government is attempting the difficult task of sitting on the fence, and on the day of the meeting of the economy ministers of the six largest EU countries, the head of the MEF, Giancarlo Giorgetti, has chosen to remain in Rome to manage European issues remotely and attend other institutional commitments. These are legitimate choices, of course, but they seem to clash with the efforts that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is making to give new centrality and prestige to the country, the latest of which is the initiative with Germany and Belgium for twelve-star competitiveness and the restricted summit prior to the leaders’ summit dedicated to the same subject. 

“We want to reaffirm the message of the need for competitiveness,” says French Finance Minister Roland Lescure upon his arrival at the EU Council for the Eurogroup meeting. He said he had had a working lunch with his counterparts from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and Spain, which was entirely political in nature: “We want to be the ones who set the pace for competitiveness,” he said. Faced with a struggling Europe, a group of countries has decided to take on the responsibility of leading the others, he continued, “We know how to move well, but we must also know how to do so quickly.” 

The meeting of the group, renamed “E6” (translatable as “the six Europeans”), focused on two areas of intervention: accelerating the implementation of the Savings and Investment Union and strengthening the resilience of supply chains for essential raw materials. Explanations coming from Berlin, confirming that the Franco-German engine is still running strong despite the efforts of the Meloni government. Rome prefers to remain silent and leave the task of communication to others. The German Ministry of Finance has announced that the meeting, in which Giorgetti participated via video link, produced “a comprehensive, productive and results-oriented exchange.” 

The next meeting in this format is scheduled for 9 and 10 March, the days of the upcoming Eurogroup and Ecofin meetings. Next month, ministers will focus on how to strengthen the international role of the euro and make defence investments more efficient. Commitments permitting, Giorgetti will be there next time. 

Meanwhile, the Minister of the Economy will also be absent from tomorrow’s Ecofin Council meeting (17 February). According to the agenda, he was already expected to attend the Italian Embassy to the Holy See for the 97th anniversary of the Lateran Pacts and the Revision of the Concordat. Italy, Europe, the Church: 
when the fence has three sides, it becomes even harder to keep your balance.