MNI: Meloni Seeks Euro Election Leverage For Tax Drive-Aides

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni is planning to use European Parliament elections in June to increase her grip on the governing coalition, as she seeks to push more aggressively for policies including a flat tax on incomes, two sources close to her told MNI.

In a bid to win a landslide victory for her Brothers of Italy party, Meloni is considering standing in the elections herself at the head of the list, though she would resign from the European Parliament once elected in order to carry on as prime minister, they said. One of her main targets if all goes to plan would be to remove Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, who is number two in Meloni’s junior coalition partners the League, one of the sources said.

While removing Giorgetti would be difficult, given his closeness to head of state Sergio Mattarella, he has frustrated Meloni by blocking proposals from his deputy, Brothers of Italy member Maurizio Leo, particularly with regards to reform of the tax system. When she came to power, Meloni had aimed to split the finance ministry in two, giving control of the revenue-collecting arm to Leo, but her coalition partners opposed this.

Still, in many areas the relationship between Meloni and Giorgetti has been positive.

The initial coalition agreement specified that the finance ministry would be held by an independent, but Meloni agreed to waive this requirement for Giorgetti, who has subsequently taken the prime minister’s side against his own party to push through SuperBonus 110% home renovation subsidies and changes to the pension system. He has also pushed forward with the government’s privatisation drive, which aims to raise EUR20 billion by 2026.

FABIO PANETTA

Now, however, she wants to move him to another role. Previously she had courted the European Central Bank’s Fabio Panetta for the finance ministry, but he turned down her offer and recently took over as governor of the Bank of Italy.

Giorgetti has also been of less use than Meloni hoped in influencing League boss Matteo Salvini, who directs a powerful grouping in the nation’s legislature, one of the prime minister’s aides told MNI, adding that a similar pattern was observed during the premiership of Mario Draghi, when Giorgetti served as economic development minister.

“Their relationship is good and they are often on the same page, as with the European Stabilty Mechanism, but he always fails to persuade Salvini,” the aide said. (See MNI: Italy Delays ESM Vote To Boost EU Fiscal Rules Bargaining)

The death of Silvio Berlusconi, which has further eroded support for the former prime minister’s Forza Italia party, the smallest coalition member, has created an opportunity for Brothers of Italy to make gains over its partners, Meloni calculates, according to her aides. Polls ahead of the European elections give her party around 30% of the votes, tripling support for the League and Forza Italia, with the prime ministerial sources adding that the difference could be even greater if Meloni heads the electoral list herself.

EUROPEAN CLOUT

A strong electoral showing could also give Meloni more clout with the European Commission as she seeks to improve her relationship with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the sources said. The Italian prime minister would be open to backing a second term for von der Leyen, but with conditions, they added.

Brothers of Italy would seek to position itself in the legislature between the centre-right European People’s Party and the conservative and Eurosceptic bloc, as a trustworthy partner to the European institutions following electoral setbacks for right-wing political allies in Spain and especially Poland, they said.

Meloni is also seeking a weighty Commission post for Italy, and could nominate her European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto, a moderate member of her cabinet with long experience in Brussels, the sources added.