{"id":398625,"date":"2024-10-18T14:55:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T12:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/10\/18\/fdi-ecr-maggioranza-pe-commissione\/"},"modified":"2024-10-24T11:36:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T09:36:43","slug":"the-turnaround-of-melonis-party-on-von-der-leyens-reappointment-to-the-european-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/10\/18\/the-turnaround-of-melonis-party-on-von-der-leyens-reappointment-to-the-european-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"The turnaround of Meloni’s party on von der Leyen’s reappointment to the European Commission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels –\u00a0Once upon a time, the extreme right<\/strong> was the opposition<\/strong> of the centrist majority<\/strong> that\u00a0led the EU institutions. Until the center-right European People’s Party<\/strong> (EPP<\/strong>)\u00a0and the Socialists (S&D)<\/strong> of the center-left were dealing the cards in both the European Parliament<\/strong> and the European Council<\/strong>, thus deciding the composition and priorities of the Commission<\/strong> (perhaps propping themselves up with the liberals of ALDE\/Renew<\/strong>), and excluding radical right. The balance changed,<\/strong> however, after a series of elections — both European and national — in which the latter saw its support grow significantly. The case of the Fratelli d’Italia<\/strong> of premier Giorgia Meloni<\/strong> plastically represents this change in\u00a0the balance of the political axis in the Old Continent.<\/p>\n

There’s no escaping: the Union has moved decisively to the right<\/strong>. It was certified, on the one hand, by the results of the European Parliament elections<\/strong>, where the three groups to the right of the Populars (the Conservatives<\/strong> of ECR, the Patriots<\/strong> of PfE, and the Sovereignists<\/strong> of ESN) won\u00a0187 seats out of 720. O<\/strong>n the other hand, the composition of national governments<\/strong> in the European Council, where the executives of most member states have within them at least one party of the radical right<\/strong> or depend on their external support<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Christian Democrats<\/strong> have been amply aware of this change in the European political center of gravity as well before the European elections in\u00a0June, repeatedly attempted to coopt into the majority<\/strong>\u00a0those whom Commission President (both the outgoing and the incoming) Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong>\u00a0defined as “healthy elements<\/strong>” of the right: parties, that is, that respect the rule of law, are pro-European, and support Ukraine against Russia.<\/p>\n

The flirtation of the Spitzenkandidatin<\/i> of the EPP with the Italian premier was in the headlines for months, until when it came to choosing<\/a> the top jobs<\/i> of the new institutional cycle<\/strong>, Meloni decided to reject two out of three candidates and to abstain\u00a0on the vote for a second von der Leyen term<\/strong>. The following month, at the inaugural plenary of the new legislature\u00a0in July<\/a>\u00a0in Strasbourg, the group of\u00a0MEPs<\/strong>\u00a0from Meloni’s party<\/strong> (the largest within the ECR with 24 elected members) voted against the confirmation<\/strong> of the Popular German woman at the head of the EU executive, pointing out as untenable the search for consensus “on the left” for her second term.<\/p>\n

Yet, sensing the direction Europe will take in the next five years, von der Leyen decided to hand over, for the first time, an\u00a0executive vice-presidency of the College<\/strong> — set to\u00a0be the most right-wing ever<\/a> — to an ECR member —\u00a0the current Minister of European Affairs (with delegations to the South and the NRRP) Raffaele Fitto<\/strong>, a member of Meloni’s magic circle.<\/p>\n

And here lies the political turnaround of FdI<\/strong>. During a press briefing<\/a> on Friday (Oct. 18), in anticipation of the second October plenary,\u00a0MEP Ruggero Razza of Meloni’s party<\/strong> admitted that if the auditions of the commissioners-designate<\/strong> go well, the Italian delegation of the ECR<\/strong> (and perhaps the entire group) will give confidence to the new College<\/strong> in its entirety in the vote expected between next month and early December.<\/p>\n

That, he says, does not\u00a0stand in contradiction to the Conservatives’ behavior in the past months: “The vote that the ECR group expressed in the first vote (the one in July in Strasbourg, Ed.) is also the expression and, if you like, the political continuity of the vote that the Italian government expressed on\u00a0the package of appointments<\/strong>” for the heads of the EU institutions.\u00a0He added: “Today there is a different context:<\/strong> president\u00a0von der Leyen has presented her Commission. We hope the hearings\u00a0will confirm the framework of the Commission. Therefore,\u00a0it is reasonable to assume\u00a0that the vote of the delegation of Fratelli d’Italia will be absolutely consistent<\/strong> with\u00a0the hearings.”<\/p>\n

Translated: if the Populars help us defend Fitto from the crossfire of Socialists, Liberals, Greens, and the Left<\/strong>, the Conservatives will support the new EPP-led College (15 out of 27 members). Razza then preemptively shielded himself from any accusations of double-dealing, throwing it on the\u00a0government’s responsibility<\/strong>: “It would be unique,” he said, indeed even “absolutely irrational<\/strong>, for the main party that leads the Italian government to speak out against a Commission that has its own Cohesion minister as vice-president.” In short, it seems that the Meloni’s party\u00a0remembered that they are the government of the third EU economy only now that they have been granted an executive vice-presidency, forgetting instead when it was time to confirm the very one who had the power to offer that vice-presidency.<\/p>\n

Was it a bold political gamble, won against the odds, or a calculation gone wrong but later resolved positively? \u00a0Whichever way you look at it, the risk is having\u00a0two different political majorities between the Strasbourg Chamber and the Commission<\/strong>. As PD MEP Annalisa Corrado\u00a0<\/strong>denounced at the same briefing, “it is clear that the risk of a double majority” is real and will now have to be assessed by the European Parliament whether the future commissioners<\/strong> “will be in a position” to carry out the task entrusted to them “without creating a kind of internal sabotage<\/strong>” in the work of the incoming College and its relations with the hemicycle.<\/p>\n

So, which majority will rule Europe between now and 2029? Will it remain the one that allowed von der Leyen’s re-election, or will it be different, as the right-wing representatives in the European Parliament hope? Socialists and Liberals do not recognize the Conservatives (let alone Patriots and Sovereignists) as allies, nor do the latter intend to have anything to do with the former. Taking a look at the political landscape\u00a0of the Chamber<\/strong>, the numbers tell an even different, more fluid story.<\/p>\n

Having increased its seats, the EPP is in a dominant position<\/strong> because it can now adopt the proverbial politics of the two ovens<\/strong>: cooperate with the partners of the “formal”\u00a0<\/strong>majority on some dossiers while\u00a0on others (e.g., on migration or the future of the Green deal)\u00a0join forces with the right<\/strong>. The technical rehearsals have already started: with the sanctions vote<\/a> to the self-proclaimed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro<\/strong> and\u00a0defining<\/a>\u00a0the agenda\u00a0for hearings<\/strong> of the appointed commissioners. Now, it must be seen how the performance will unfold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After obstructing the reappointment of the president of the EU executive until this summer, Fratelli d’Italia will support her new team in the fall, which will include the premier’s loyalist Raffaele Fitto. This will cause problems among the majority partners in Strasbourg, but those who will emerge strengthened will most likely be the Populars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":398588,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25681],"tags":[25871,25747,28143,28149,28225,26096,25822,26064],"class_list":["post-398625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-brothers-ditalia-en-2","tag-brothers-ditaly","tag-conservatives-and-reformists-en","tag-commissione-europea-en","tag-parliament-en","tag-giorgia-meloni-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398625"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":398735,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398625\/revisions\/398735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}