(by correspondent Paolo Cappelleri) The European elections on the eve of the G7 could have been a trap, but instead they went even better than hoped. Now Giorgia Meloni is counting on another success at the summit to present herself even stronger at the table in Brussels, where negotiations for the new governance of the EU will begin on Monday. They are two formally completely distinct and separate matches, but in fact in the three days among the olive trees of Borgo Egnazia every gesture and word can be read in a double key. Especially when the prime minister meets Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz or Ursula von der Leyen.
This is already demonstrated by the tensions over the lack of reference to the right to abortion, removed from the draft of the final declaration circulated on the eve of the first G7 in which a Pontiff will appear, which generated the irritation of the French and European delegations. A chapter that brings to light the distance between the approach of Palazzo Chigi on some issues and that of other chancelleries, with which a rapid alignment in the risk of the positions that count in Brussels is anything but obvious. In particular with the Elysée. And it is in Paris that Meloni is looking above all, as he would like to wait for the outcome of the French parliamentary elections of 30 June-7 July before seeing the negotiations get to the heart of things. The timetable on which von der Leyen is aiming to obtain an encore is decidedly tighter. Anyone who wants to try to close in a short time, the reasoning behind the prime minister’s party, will have to seriously take into consideration Rome’s demands for a powerful commissioner and an executive vice-presidency.
The seat of High Representative of Foreign Policy is an option, and in that case it would be a profile that should not be excluded from Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, alongside Meloni in Borgo Egnazia as government sherpa for the G7, as well as director of the Dis. Even if the prime minister herself has referred to a significant economic portfolio in recent weeks. The commissioner with responsibility for Competition remains an attractive solution for Rome. It will be difficult, however, for the leader of FdI and the European Conservatives to go unbalanced in any way in the informal chatter in Puglia, where in the meantime she also received an invitation from her ally Antonio Tajani to “have her say on the indication of the president of the European Commission”. The leader of FI continues to hope for “an agreement between popular, liberal and conservative”, which however at the moment does not have the numbers. While the other deputy prime minister, the Northern League member Matteo Salvini, has relaunched the pact with Marine Le Pen for a united centre-right also in the EU.
However, the moves of the ECR led by Meloni still remain covered. There is no rush, from the Prime Minister’s point of view. She is immediately focused on the political and diplomatic efforts to make the summit in Puglia a success, especially on the various priority chapters for Italy, from immigration to Artificial Intelligence, as well as obviously the geopolitical crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. Before the final session on Friday (three months after the kiss on the head received in the Oval Office of the White House), Meloni also has a bilateral meeting with Joe Biden on his agenda, a moment of crucial importance as all face-to-face meetings between the head of the Italian government and the president of the United States.
The paragraphs of the final declaration regarding China should also definitively take shape on Friday evening.
In aspects linked to the war in Ukraine but also to commercial and competitive dynamics, with the Seven accusing the Dragon of industrial overcapacity in sectors such as electric vehicles and solar panels. This is also a dossier that represents a complex challenge. Because the moment is not far away when Meloni will fly to Beijing for an official visit. And because in Brussels the move to increase duties on imports of electric cars from China seems imminent, which could reach up to 25%.
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