MNI: Meloni Seeks To Delay Deal On Top EU Jobs Until French Vote-Officials

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is trying to delay agreement on top jobs in the next European Commission until after a possible far-right victory in French parliamentary elections, while German and French leaders Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron have pushed for a quick deal, sources with knowledge of the talks told MNI.

Meloni calculates that a victory for the National Rally in the two-round elections on June 30 and July 7 would strengthen Italy’s hand in a push for a one of the top Commissioner jobs and a vice presidency. While Rome has targeted portfolios such as Industry, Competition and Migration, or possibly the office of the High Representative or Defence, officials who spoke to MNI said that a more realistic objective might be Agriculture.

But Meloni resisted an immediate deal in a meeting with other EU leaders on Monday, when Germany’s Scholz implied that there was already an agreement in place to install Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as Commission president, together with Portugal’s Antonio Costa as president of the European Council and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, EU and Italian sources told MNI.

 After months during which Meloni had suggested she might back Von der Leyen, the Italian prime minister decided that the proposed deal would not reflect the new balance of political power in the bloc following European parliamentary elections earlier this month. In contrast to the drubbings handed out to the parties of Scholz and Macron in Germany and France, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy topped the national poll, though a relatively strong performance by the centre-right in particular meant that the European elections did not leave her in the position of kingmaker which she had hoped for.

LEFT AND RIGHT

However, negotiations could be complicated, with the Social Democrats in the European Parliament refusing any deal with the relatively small European Conservatives and Reformists grouping of which Brothers of Italy form part, and with the right holding out against any concessions to the left.

The centre-right European People’s Party, which added to its seats in the election, is also trying to influence the future Commission, and Meloni sees scope for cooperation on issues such as watering down “Green Deal” initiatives meant to prioritise climate goals. (See MNI: 2nd-Term Von der Leyen Seen Toning Down EU Climate Push)

While Meloni now hopes that French voters could lend her a hand, she could still find herself in the uncomfortable situation of backing Von Der Leyen after all, though without the backing of the rest of the Conservatives and Reformists group, damaging relations with her broader European political family, 

a source from the Italian government told MNI. 

“It is not necessarily a bad situation, but one which requires political ability, and Meloni would need a good reward,” the source added. (See MNI: Italy To Ratify ESM Changes, Quit Bargaining-Sources)

One possible such reward would be the commissioner for agriculture, an Italian source said. 

“Meloni needs to sell a victory at home, to show that she is in the game in Brussels,” he added.