Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appears outraged by the behind-the-scenes negotiations that have blocked people’s choices for the positions of presidents of the European Commission and European Council and High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs. He characterized the bureaucratic giant EE, while at the same time calling out the leaders of Member States who want to hide problems under the carpet and do not take citizens’ votes into account in their decisions.
“There are those who argue that citizens are not wise enough to make certain decisions and that oligarchy is the only acceptable form of democracy, but I disagree,” Meloni said in the plenary of the Italian parliament, according to Politico. His comments came a day after the 6 EU leaders. of centrist parties announced that Ursula von der Leyen of Germany, Antonio Costa of Portugal (European Socialist Party) and Kaja Kallas of Estonia (Liberals) will assume the top positions in the European Commission, the European Council and Foreign Policy, respectively.
They don’t even pretend to have discussed the political messages at the polls
The same names were released before the European elections in June. Von der Leyen’s center-right European People’s Party emerged as the big winner of these elections, but the European Parliament also moved further to the right, with Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group gaining seats. Meloni wants this change to be reflected in European decision-making. He commented that EU leaders seem tempted to “sweep the dust under the carpet” rather than recognize that many voters are unhappy with the community and the way it is run.
He called the EU “an invasive bureaucratic giant” and stressed that Italy should take over the role of a Commissioner who will deal with bureaucracy.
He also stressed that it was “surreal” to present names for top EU positions “without even maintaining the pretense, without pretending to have first discussed the voters’ messages”. Meloni highlighted that his group is currently the third largest in the European Parliament with 720 seats, ahead of the Liberals.
By the end of the week the decisions
In the next European Commission, Meloni will claim a top economic portfolio for Rome. Technically, von der Leyen does not need the support of all leaders, but politically the position of the euro’s third-largest economy and of Meloni, one of the few European prime ministers to emerge unscathed from the European elections, is extremely sensitive.
EU leaders will meet Thursday and Friday in Brussels in a bid to seal the package for top spots. The European Parliament will have to approve its decisions in a vote in mid-July.