Italian ministers dismiss next commissioner rumours

5 months ago 18

Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti (Lega/ID) and EU Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR) have dismissed rumours they are in the running to become the next commissioner for Italy, despite Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) calling them fit for the job and media speculation about their candidacy.

Tajani commented about potential EU commissioner candidates in a radio interview on Monday.

“It is premature to talk about who the next Italian European Commissioner will be. First, we need to vote, then the government will decide,” he said.

However, he named Giorgetti and Fitto “as individuals with great qualities who can represent Italy in the European Commission”, noting that this has never been discussed.

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti is a member of Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s far-right Lega party and has maintained good relations with former prime minister Mario Draghi, having served as minister of economic development in Draghi’s government.

In recent months, Giorgetti has been at the centre of tensions within the ruling coalition. He has faced pressure to provide resources while he insisted on maintaining fiscal discipline and has reportedly come close to resigning on several occasions.

According to La Repubblica, the economy minister could be prepared to leave the government, offering Meloni his willingness to work in the new European Commission, thus avoiding the embarrassment of resigning and going straight to Brussels.

However, Lega boss Salvini has a different view.

“Giorgetti tired and ready to leave? Nonsense. The problem with certain Italian media, which are losing sales at newsstands, is that they project their desires onto reality,” he said.

Giorgetti himself has dismissed these reports on Monday:

“As far as I am concerned, I continue to do my job as always. I am already thinking about the structural plan and have a specific project in mind,” he said.

Meanwhile, Raffaele Fitto, minister for EU affairs and a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party, has also brushed off the rumours.

Fitto, the minister responsible for renegotiating the National Recovery and Resilience Plan with the European Commission, stated: “It is too early to talk about names for the European Commission.”

“The question about names is not just premature; it is very premature,” he told journalists.

(Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)