EU appointments, lack of Meloni-Orban-Fico consensus. The premier: 'I don't make concoctions with the left'

'The mandate I hope to have from this chamber for the European Council,' Meloni said, 'is a mandate to continue to call for a change of pace on EU priorities, to bring our proposals and to work for Italy to be recognised as having the role it deserves. My colleague Madia (deputy of the PD, ndr) says that' Italy should have 'a role as important as now? I hope I can do better'.

"On the majority we will see in the course of the legislature: it materialises by not handing out assignments and trying to add up weaknesses, it materialises in Parliament, agreeing on top jobs does not mean having a majority and it certainly does not mean having a solid majority". Thus Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in reply to the Chamber after the communications ahead of the European Council. "We will assess during the legislature whether there is a majority. Colleague Zanella said 'the majority exists and resists', I would say that it certainly resists, that it exists we will verify it later'.

On the defence investment front, given the challenges posed by the crisis in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, the Prime Minister stressed that "a debate is needed to imagine innovative solutions, opening up the possibility of European bonds". So said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, at the Chamber of Deputies for the communications ahead of the European Council.

'We are on the eve of the first European Council of the new EU legislature,' he recalled in his speech. 'From the European elections we have to draw some important indications. All the political forces in recent months have supported the need for a change in EU policies, no one said it would be sufficient to maintain the status quo. They all agreed on one point: Europe must take a different direction from the position it has taken so far'.

Abstentionism is "a phenomenon that has crossed many nations across the continent and that cannot leave us indifferent. It cannot leave this Parliament indifferent, and even more so it cannot and must not leave the European ruling classes indifferent, starting with those who even in these days unfortunately seem tempted to sweep the dust under the carpet, to continue with old and disappointing logics as if nothing had happened, refusing to grasp the clear signals coming from those who voted and from the many who decided not to". 'The EU,' Meloni stressed, 'has turned into a bureaucratic giant, which has contributed to a distance with the citizens. Europe must review its priorities. It must do less, but do it better'.

'I think that' the new Commission presidency 'should think about a specific delegation to de-bureaucratisation to give a signal' of change, she said. According to the premier, it is necessary 'to apply in Europe too the principle that we apply in Italy: do not disturb those who want to do, it means being more attractive than others, clearing the bureaucratic and administrative thicket that ends up being an obstacle course that penalises companies'.

The Prime Minister criticised EU policies in the automotive sector. "No one has ever denied that electric can be part of the solution for the decarbonisation of transport," he said, "but it makes no sense to self-impose a ban on diesel and petrol cars from 2035 and effectively condemn ourselves to new strategic dependencies, such as Chinese electric. To argue otherwise was simply ideological folly, which we will work to correct. Reducing polluting emissions is the path we want to follow, but with common sense and concreteness, exploiting all available technologies without going to the detriment of economic and social sustainability, thus defending and enhancing European production and safeguarding tens of thousands of jobs'. So said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in her statement to the Chamber of Deputies ahead of the EU Council.

"I am not surprised that a certain approach emerged before during and after the election campaign" but, Meloni emphasised, "no true democrat who believes in popular sovereignty can in his or her heart deem it acceptable that in Europe there was an attempt to negotiate on top positions even before the ballot box went to the polls".

'Some have argued that we should not talk to certain political forces,' attacked Meloni. The EU institutions were conceived in a neutral logic. The top posts were given with the major groups in mind, regardless of majority and opposition logics. Today you choose to open a new scenario and the logic of consensus is overridden by the logic of fireplaces, where one party decides for all. A 'conventio ad excludendum' that on behalf of the Italian government I have contested and do not intend to share'.

"If there is one indisputable fact that comes out of the ballot box," Meloni said, "it is the rejection of the policies pursued by the political forces in government in many of the large European nations, which are also in many cases the forces that have dictated European policies in recent years. The Prime Minister cited the percentages obtained in individual EU countries by the governing parties: "16% in France, 32% in Germany, 34% in Spain". "Only in Italy," she added, "53% of those elected are expressions of the government forces".

One passage of the premier's speech was on the topic of migration flows. The leader of Fdi spoke of the objectives of 'defending our external borders' and combating the 'business of human traffickers' who are 'slavers of the third millennium. I believe that the EU, the cradle of western civilisation, can no longer tolerate a crime like slavery in other forms'. "In Italy and in the EU you only enter legally," he said, "The institutions and not the smugglers take care of the entries. We will not allow the mafias to manage entry into Italy, as they have been doing for some time. I am surprised that no one before us has noticed this'.

On the security front, Meloni emphasised the need for a European 'security and defence policy' and a 'common industrial policy in the field of defence' even in the face of ongoing wars. "We must remember that freedom and security have a cost", "we must be able to exercise deterrence" and "build a solid European NATO pillar alongside the US one. Italy will be the interpreter" of this vision "at the NATO summit". "I believe that a debate is also necessary to imagine innovative solutions, opening up to the possibility of European bonds" on defence investments, Meloni added.

Meloni recalled the death of Satnam Singh during communications ahead of the European Council, during which other members of the government also stood up and applauded. The PM spoke of a 'horrible and inhuman death' with a 'disgusting attitude of his employer. This is the worst Italy that profits from despair'.

The government must 'continue to ensure European support for Ukraine in its various dimensions, political-diplomatic, economic-financial, military and humanitarian, for as long as necessary and also in the light of the decisions taken at the last G7 summit, including that relating to financial support for Kiev through the use of resources deriving from the extraordinary profits produced by Russian frozen assets, in line with the legal framework already agreed at European level' and 'to encourage every diplomatic initiative aimed at a just peace, based on the United Nations Charter and respectful of international law'. These are the first two commitments of the resolution deposited by the majority in the Chamber at the end of the communications made by the President of the Council, Giorgia Meloni, on the eve of the Brussels European Council.

As for the crisis in the Middle East, the 21-point document calls for the continuation of diplomatic efforts "on the basis of the decisions taken at the G7 Summit in June, at the United Nations and at the European Council in March 2024, so that a solution can be reached based on the principle of two sovereign "states" that can live side by side in peace and security, within secure and recognised borders in accordance with international law and UN Resolutions". While calling for a "reiteration of the strongest condemnation of the massacres, atrocious violence and deportation of hostages carried out by Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel on 7 October 2023", along with the expression of "solidarity and full support for Israel and its people, reaffirming the commitment to its security in accordance with international humanitarian law".

On the table of the European Council are several topics. Ukraine will be discussed, taking stock of the latest developments in the war and examining all aspects of the EU's response as well as maintaining its firm and multifaceted support for Ukraine and its people. The leaders will also address the situation in the Middle East, in the light of the situation in Gaza and the latest developments. Security and defence will then be discussed, including initiatives to strengthen the industrial base of the Common Security and Defence Policy. Among the dossiers will also be competitiveness, all on the basis of progress on the latest conclusions on the subject adopted at the meeting of 17 and 18 April 2024, including the union of capital markets, on the basis of a report by the EU Council Presidency. But the main topic of the two-day event will be the next institutional cycle, and thus the decisions on appointments to the highest offices, and the adoption of the EU Strategic Agenda 2024-2029.

Since the extraordinary European Council of 24 February 2022, the date of the start of the Russian invasion, the EU has adopted a set of political declarations and regulatory and financial measures aimed at reaffirming support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, providing military and economic support to Ukraine, and implementing a framework of sanctions against Russia. In total, the financial support provided by the EU and its Member States since the beginning of the war amounts to about EUR 99 billion, of which EUR 50 billion to support Ukraine's overall economic, social and financial resilience, EUR 32 billion for military assistance, and about EUR 17 billion to help Member States meet the needs of Ukrainians fleeing the war to the EU.

"On the majority we will see in the course of the legislature: it materialises by not handing out assignments and trying to add up weaknesses, it materialises in Parliament, agreeing on top jobs does not mean having a majority and it certainly does not mean having a solid majority". Thus Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in reply to the Chamber after the communications ahead of the European Council. "We will evaluate in the course of the legislature whether there is a majority. Colleague Zanella said 'the majority exists and resists', I would say that it certainly resists, that it exists we will verify it later'.

"I don't believe that Della Vedova's vision" is that one is "only in a position to negotiate what is due to Italy if one complies. I don't think that's his vision' and 'it's not my idea of Europe. I consider it crazy for those who represent Italy in Europe to say that we should not actually negotiate with the Italian government because it is not a government that the left likes. Seeking isolation for Italy creates many problems for Italy and it is serious,' Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in reply after the communications ahead of the European Council.