Meloni’s support for EU top jobs deal increasingly uncertain

On the eve of a European Council summit where EU leaders are supposed to seal the deal on EU top jobs, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sharply criticised the provisional agreement reached by the majority and indicated that she might oppose it.

Leaders are due to meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (27-28 June) to clinch the deal, following the European elections in early June that marked the start of a new five-year term for EU institutions.

On Tuesday, sources close to the negotiations confirmed that a provisional package deal had been reached by the negotiators of the three political groups of the informal majority coalition.

Meloni had not been involved in the negotiations — which involved the ‘big three’ groups, the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and liberal Renew Europe — although her group, the hard-right Conservatives of ECR, is now the third-largest in the European Parliament, people familiar with the talks confirmed.

Speaking to the Italian parliament on Wednesday (26 June), Meloni argued that the logic of consensus has been overtaken by “backroom logic” where a select few make decisions for everyone and she warned that imposing the choices of a “fragile” majority is a mistake.

“I am not surprised that this approach emerged before, during, and after the election campaign,” Meloni said in her address to the Chamber of Deputies.

“No true democrat who believes in popular sovereignty can find it acceptable that in Europe, discussions on top positions were attempted even before going to the polls.”

Meloni criticised certain parties, such as S&D and Renew, for wanting to veto potential agreements with the ECR, emphasising that “EU institutions were designed with a neutral logic”.

She added: “The logic of consensus is being overshadowed by backroom decisions, where a few decide for everyone, which, on behalf of the Italian government, I have contested and do not intend to share”.

According to Meloni, the main mistake being made in Brussels is “the imposition of this logic and a fragile majority likely to face difficulties during the legislature”.

The deal’s backers are confident that their proposal will pass the test of the leaders’ summit this week, and that their nominated candidate, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, will get a 400-vote majority from the 720-seat European Parliament and be elected.

Meloni highlighted that Europe does not seem to understand the challenges ahead: “We must show that we have learned from past mistakes and give the utmost consideration to citizens’ demands”, who are calling for “a more concrete and less ideological Europe”.

Referring to the recent European elections, in which hard-right and far-right parties increased their number of seats, Meloni warned that some might be tempted to “sweep the dust under the carpet,” continuing with old and disappointing logic “as if nothing had happened”.

In the run-up to the European Council, Meloni will have to decide whether to accept the mediators’ proposals or put Italy and her political group in the opposition.

Her remarks on Wednesday suggest that she is moving away from accepting the agreement, and it remains unclear what she could demand in return for her support.

After Tuesday’s news of a majority agreement on the top jobs, Italian government sources did not show their disappointment and hinted that they might not support Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second mandate.

“They decided to proceed without us. At this point, nothing is certain, not even the parliamentary support of the ECR group for a second mandate for Ursula von der Leyen.”

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic, Aurélie Pugnet]

Read more with Euractiv