Meloni demands guarantees from von der Leyen for Italian votes in EU appointments, here

We understood something more this morning, from Giorgia Meloni's speech in the Chamber for the communications ahead of the European Council of 27 and 28 June. Not the outcome of the negotiations between the premier and Ursula von der Leyen. But certainly the speech in front of Parliament offered Meloni the opportunity to reiterate some firm points starting from the conditio sine qua non of "a role of the highest rank" for Italy in the European executive.

The name in pole position remains that of the current Minister for European Affairs, the NRP and Cohesion Policies Raffaele Fitto who has an excellent relationship with the Prime Minister and with von der Leyen herself. It was Fitto himself who two years ago facilitated the first meeting between the President of the Commission and the new Prime Minister, which helped to break down a series of prejudices against the Italian right-wing leader, also favouring the strengthening of a relationship that has seen von der Leyen take Meloni's side several times, first and foremost on the migrant front: from Lampedusa to Tunis to Albania and, more generally, to the shared approach on the so-called 'external dimension' through direct European interventions in support of the countries of departure or transit.

And immigration will certainly be one of the central topics along with those of economic policy, starting with the protection of 'European industry' put to the test by the 'ideological' green transition imposed by former Vice-President Timmermans and the weakness of the Old Continent's 'supply chains'. Meloni will be careful to calibrate her words. She will recall the outcome of the vote on 9 June, the dissatisfaction shown by voters towards Europe, the advance of the right-wing, the success of her government. Above all, he will go back to repeating that 'before the names' we need to know 'the programmes'.

He had already said this at the informal meeting a week ago, when the spokespersons of the EPP, ESSP and Renew came to the table with a closed package of names, sending the premier into a rage. The script must now be reversed and this is what the majority resolution will also focus on. Which, however, will not be able to put too many strings on the premier. It is she who will sit at the European Council with the other 26 and it is she who will have to make Italy's position official in view of the passage to the Strasbourg plenary session on 18 July.

Meloni will not lift his reservation to the last. A 'no' from Italy, the EU's third-largest country, would certainly be resounding and would put von der Leyen's encore at serious risk. Not least because it would be difficult for the outgoing president to be reconfirmed without the 'external' support of Meloni's 24 Fratelli d'Italia .