Italy’s Meloni says the EU’s top job contract ignores the will of voters

Authors: Angelo Amante and Matteo Negri

ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday criticized plans to divide top posts in EU institutions, saying they ignore the successes of right-wing parties in this year’s European Parliament elections.

Sources said Tuesday that the three main, broadly centrist European groups (which do not include Meloni’s conservatives) had reached an agreement on top EU posts, which would include the election of German Ursula von der Leyen to a second term as head of the EU’s executive commission.

The agreement will be submitted for approval to EU leaders at a summit in Brussels starting on Thursday. If confirmed, it would mark a continuity from the past, with pro-EU factions holding on to power despite a surge in support for far-right and Eurosceptic parties in the European elections.

“I don’t think there has been a willingness so far to take into account what citizens have said at the ballot box,” Meloni told lawmakers, adding that parties that saw an increase in political support in the last elections must be taken into account in negotiations.

The most votes in Italy were won by Meloni’s right-wing Italian Brothers – the leading force of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party in the European Parliament.

A shift to the right also occurred in France and Germany, where ruling parties suffered severe defeats.

Meloni said her ECR group, which overtook the Liberals in the EU Assembly, deserved a key vote on the nomination.

“The third (largest) group today is the group that is not liked by those who make decisions,” she said, calling the EU a “bureaucratic giant” whose choices are dictated by “ideology.”

A major employment deal will make former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa chairman of meetings of EU national leaders and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas head of EU foreign policy, sources say.

Meloni said this type of agreement was contrary to the original spirit of the European Union.

“(The EU institutions) were designed to be neutral entities, so they can guarantee all member states, regardless of the political color of the governments of those member states,” she said.

The three main factions in the EP have the votes to enable the package to be adopted by the European Council, composed of EU leaders. However, the new term of office of the head of the Commission, von der Leyen, a Christian democrat, requires the consent of the European Parliament, where she will probably have to increase her support.

Diplomats say von der Leyen could seek Meloni’s support by offering Italy a powerful Commission portfolio.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Matteo Negri; additional reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; editing by Gareth Jones and Gavin Jones)