by Alessia Peretti
After months of mutual wooing, Giorgia Meloni voted against the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission, a move that could backfire.
Meloni was not swayed by von der Leyen’s tougher stance on immigration, her reference to the external dimension, or the announcement of a special commissioner for the Mediterranean—positions that many observers thought would have won her support.
“The choices made in recent days, the political platform and the search for consensus from the left to the Greens have made it impossible for us to support the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen,” said Carlo Fidanza, head of the Fratelli d’Italia delegation in the European Parliament, shortly after the vote.
The perception that the proposal did not offer anything new or different to the last five years, and the Green Deal, as reported by Euractiv in recent days, was one of the main reasons for Fratelli d’Italia’s opposition.
Although “politically, the ‘no’ to von der Leyen is understandable”, political analyst and professor at LUISS Guido Carli University Lorenzo Castellani told Euractiv, “in terms of national interest and raison d’etat, Meloni suffers a rather significant defeat”.
According to Castellani, this defeat will have repercussions for the Commission, as Italy is unlikely to get a commissioner or vice-president with strong mandates, as Meloni wanted.
It will also affect the credibility of the Italian prime minister, as Thursday’s rejection undermines a process of political legitimisation that began when she became prime minister.
“It’s as if Meloni has thrown overboard this year-and-a-half-long rapprochement with the European Union, a departure from Euroscepticism that had benefited her in terms of both consensus and international credibility.”
In one day, Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia has pushed itself back into the corner of the radical right, aligning with her government ally Matteo Salvini and the Patriots for Europe.
This move has stalled her effort to build a governing right and “essentially brought little home for Italy.”
Castellani’s impression is that, despite Meloni often claiming to be the only government of a major country strengthened by June’s elections, she actually emerges weakened in power dynamics.
The rejection of von der Leyen “zeroes or significantly reduces the influence of Fratelli d’Italia and the conservatives on the Commission’s decisions,” says Castellani.
“So, even the argument that it was impossible to vote for a program with strong continuity on the Green Deal holds up to a certain extent, as that program will continue regardless, and Fratelli d’Italia will have no opportunity to influence it”.
Meanwhile, on the left, it is thought that Meloni’s gamble to decide von der Leyen’s future has failed.
“Fratelli d’Italia, premier Meloni’s party, votes against von der Leyen and places herself on the margins of Europe. A very bad impression for a founding country like Italy; they vote like Orban.” wrote on X Democratic Party MEP Alessandra Moretti.
Fellow Socialist party member Stefano Bonaccini also spoke of “Meloni’s isolation in Europe” after the vote.
*first published in: Euractiv.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
