Appointments, Meloni wants to close the Di Foggia case and target undersecretaries

Giorgia Meloni's goal would be to close the game of appointments of deputy ministers and undersecretaries tomorrow in the Council of Ministers, Thursday morning at the latest, before flying to Cyprus for the informal European Council. On the side of Palazzo Chigi, the conviction is that each additional day of stasis only fuels the fibrillations in the majority.

But there is a sea between saying and doing. Complicating the picture (and irritating the premier not a little, according to rumours in the majority) is the affair of Giuseppina Di Foggia. The outgoing Terna CEO, indicated for the presidency of Eni and considered close to the Meloni sisters, has asked for a severance package worth 7.3 million euro. But the Ministry of the Economy, on Sunday evening, recalled that from 2023 it has given specific directives, as a partner, to exclude or strictly limit the cases and the amount of indemnities and emoluments, however denominated, to be paid at the end of the mandate. The ultimate aim is to exclude that they are paid to those who end their mandate as directors due to natural expiry or voluntary resignation.

The issue of Di Foggia's severance package, which was reportedly also discussed yesterday at an extraordinary Terna board meeting that did not have the topic on the agenda, will be the focus of a new board meeting that will be convened soon, also because the pressure on the CEO is very strong. If she opts for the position at Eni, as she has been invited to do, she will have to resign by the shareholders' meeting scheduled for 6 May. The shareholders' meeting for the renewal of Terna's top management will instead be held on 12 May.

Also to drive away these drosses Meloni would like to at least proceed with the sub-government appointments and fill the five free boxes, from that of Andrea Delmastro at Justice to the others. Yesterday there was a hint of an acceleration: an extraordinary evening convocation of the Federnuoto assembly in which the president and former Forza Italia group leader, Paolo Barelli, is said to have communicated his desire to leave the administrative delegations, keeping only the sporting ones. The move moves him closer to the role of undersecretary, not necessarily for relations with Parliament. Noi Moderati, who would be given the undersecretary's chair at Foreign Affairs, is banking on the Sicilian Massimo Dell'Utri.

At the same time, however, the Azure leader Antonio Tajani's veto on the Lega Nord Federico Freni at the head of the Consob seemed to reappear, even if sources close to the secretary underline how the current undersecretary for the Economy is in trouble for other reasons. Fi still does not dislike the alternative name of Federico Cornelli, currently commissioner of the Autorithy. If Freni were to get the green light and Claudio Durigon were to take his place at the MEF, Tajani already has the deputy Chiara Tenerini ready for the undersecretary's job. Milan also enters the match: Ignazio La Russa's endorsement for Maurizio Lupi (Noi Moderati) mayoral candidate clashes with the Azzurri preference for a civic candidate. More sure Mara Bizzotto towards the Ministry of Enterprise, indicated from the outset by the Carroccio to replace Massimo Bitonci, who left at the end of 2025 to follow Alberto Stefani in the Veneto Council. Fdi, on the other hand, is still playing it close to the vest for its names (although Sara Kelany would still be in pole at Justice), but it is no mystery that figures from the South are also being sought in order to give a signal to that South whose response, for the majority, certainly did not shine at the referendum on justice reform.