A row over media freedom and Giorgia Meloni’s refusal to back Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy for a second term at the helm of the European Commission have exposed cracks in the Italian prime minister’s relationship with Brussels, POLITICO reports.
The Italian prime minister is furious over the European Commission’s annual report on the rule of law, which expresses concerns about press freedom in Italy and the independence of its public broadcaster Rai. Meloni has sued journalists, citing defamation, which is a criminal offence punishable by jail time in Italy. And her appointment of loyalists to senior positions at the state broadcaster has led to the departure of some leading journalists.
After the report was published, Meloni sent a letter to von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, saying the criticisms in the report were the result of “clumsy and ridiculous attacks” by journalists. This is the latest deterioration in relations between the two leaders.
In the two weeks since members of the European Parliament finally confirmed von der Leyen for a second term, Meloni’s government has continued to feud with the European Commission, causing unease in a relationship once considered civilised and comfortable.
Senior EU officials and diplomats questioned whether von der Leyen’s public dismissal was appropriate. One senior EU diplomat said after the vote in Parliament:
What Meloni did was just plain stupid. She burnt so much political capital in a number of weeks.
Von der Leyen took steps towards Meloni
In the run-up to the vote on her second term among EU leaders in June, von der Leyen spent months trying to forge a relationship with Meloni. Together they surveilled the migrant entry point into Italy. The bloc offered condolences to flood-affected communities in Italy, and von der Leyen joined them as Meloni discussed her expanded political strategy on the African continent in Rome.
Meloni then abstained in the EU leaders’ vote on a second term for von der Leyen, angry that she had been left out of a backroom deal struck in Brussels by von der Leyen’s centrist conservatives, French President Emmanuel Macron’s liberals and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s socialists.
At the time, it was believed that her Brothers of Italy party would still support von der Leyen in the European Parliament vote. However, this did not happen.
Lorenzo Castellani, a politics lecturer at Luiss University in Rome, says Meloni “gained credibility in diplomatic and financial circles as well as in the Commission and won numerous concessions, including on the [EU coronavirus] recovery fund and migration”. Now she has “thrown that away.”
Meloni is at a crossroads
The vote on von der Leyen’s candidacy has put Meloni at a crossroads, forced to choose between cementing her place as a moderate leader in European affairs and an instinctive desire to remain a fierce and radical outsider.
After coming to power in 2022, Meloni led a right-wing government that ordered the automatic detention of migrants and restricted parental and reproductive rights for same-sex couples. In Europe, her party opposed the Green Deal and the inclusion of abortion rights in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Meloni’s critics have portrayed tensions with von der Leyen as evidence of Italy’s marginalisation in Europe.
Italian lawmaker Riccardo Magi, a centrist and fierce critic of Meloni, said she was “was playing the victim which is the reaction of someone who intends to play the role of underdog.”
Nevertheless, von der Leyen and Meloni need each other. The commission was puzzled by Rome’s reaction to the rule of law report, especially since the report was prepared in consultation with the government.
During an official visit to China this week, Meloni tried to defuse tensions, saying her letter was “not an indication of tension but a reflection on the manipulation of a technical document in which the critical emphases do not come from the Commission but from interested parties,” which she said was Italy’s left-wing press.
Economics vs. medicine
In the short term, the tensions could affect which portfolio the next Italian member of the Commission gets. The main candidate for the post is said to be European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto, who is highly respected in Brussels.
If Meloni proposes a more right-wing figure, von der Leyen, according to diplomats, may punish Meloni with a symbolic new Mediterranean portfolio. Although Italy was one of the countries asking for the Mediterranean portfolio, its European priorities as a heavily indebted country are more economic in nature, so the government is hoping to get a heavyweight economic commissioner. It is also still unclear how much political clout and responsibilities the new Mediterranean portfolio will have.
However, it’s not just about jobs and influence. Italy has the second highest public debt in Europe and a deficit that exceeds EU limits. This prepares Rome for a clash with the European Commission as new fiscal rules penalise countries with large deficits.
The bumps in the road could add to the pressure on Italy. Castellani said:
If there is a financial crisis that increases the cost of Italy’s debt, not being part of the majority could have repercussions, particularly if debt rules and Recovery Plan deadlines are applied strictly.
Maurizio Gasparri of the centre-right Forza Italia party, which is part of both Meloni’s ruling coalition and von der Leyen’s political group in the European Parliament, downplayed the damage to Italy. He also said:
I don’t think there will be a negative impact considering the good relations between von der Leyen and Meloni, the central role of Forza Italia in the [European People’s Party] and Italy’s role as a founding member of the EU. For all these reasons I think Italy will remain central to the life of the EU.
Others emphasised that the relationship was at a turning point and Meloni would have to decide which way it would go. one EU diplomat, who was granted anonymity to speak frankly, said:
We will see which Meloni will rise from this: the hard-right one we always feared or the pragmatic one which we have gotten to know?
