The former Italian prime minister’s candidacy for European Council president could be Mr Macron’s secret weapon in the fight against Mr Meloni’s bid for one of the EU’s most important posts at Brussels.
Never in the history of the Union, appointments to the EU’s highest institutional positions have not been subject tosuch suspense.
This is not surprising, however, because theThe continent’s political environment has become extremely polarized and the positions of many parties at EU and national level have become profoundly radicalized.
The result is that a key institutional role entrusted to a rival can quickly turn into a political domino, affected by unpredictable systemic threats to the national and political interests of the actors involved in the perilous octopus game of major EU appointments .
Inevitably, the endless rumble in Brussels between right-wing nationalist Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and liberal-democratic, pro-EU French President Emmanuel Macron has entered its phase of “clash of civilizations”.
The decision to nominate former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta as president of the European Council is set to become the main pillar of a firewall against the prospect of an institutional presence of the far right — and its acceptance.
The push from the right during the last European elections and the concomitant retreat of the liberal pro-EU forces of Renew Europe have shifted the balance of the EU to the right and destabilized the political arena in France and Germany.
The solution could be to hand over the EU Councils to the Socialists and Democrats (S&D). On the one hand, the S&D did not suffer humiliating defeats in the European elections, unlike the liberals, and on the other hand, the Italian Democratic Party – which happens to be Mr Letta’s party – should have the greatest delegations from the S&D group in the new European Parliament.
All this makes Letta the logical successor to the French-speaking Belgian liberal Charles Michel.
The success of the far right in the June election and the setback of Renaissance in France forced Mr. Macron to dissolve the French Parliament and to call early elections in order to directly confront Marine Le Pen’s heir apparent, Jordan Bardella, of the National Rally (ID group in the European Parliament).
“Dangerous Liaisons” and the shaky Franco-German axis
The French election campaign is closely linked to negotiations over the EU’s most important jobs, and the European political arena is deeply polarized.
The rise of the hard right in Europe has pushed its main players to demand key positions in EU policymaking.
Accepting the institutional rise of a hard-right candidate at the EU level could become a de facto deal for the far right to gain key government roles in France.
The mere idea that a far-right prime minister like Meloni could secure one of his candidates a leading position in Europe and the growing openness of the main political parties to the nationalist right-wing group in the European Parliament could certainly influence all 27 national political environments.
This is why other European parties and governments are fully aware of the prospect of a normalized far right.
Macron’s France, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Germany, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Poland and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Spain have so far set up a political firewall to try to prevent the most right-wing parties to obtain important appointments within the EU.
The “big four” represent the liberals, moderate conservatives and socialists, the three European political families of the outgoing grand coalition.
Mr Tusk (EPP) has every interest in joining Mr Macron’s crusade, because his direct rival at home is the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, a coalition partner of Italy’s Meloni Brothers within the ECR.
Scholz, a social democrat, has the same urgency to stop the far right as Macron since his party, the SPD, finished third behind the far-right AfD in the last European elections, won in Germany by the moderate conservatives of the CDU-CSU.
ADVERTISEMENTIn Spain, Mr. Sánchez is fighting mainly against the center-right PP, but also against the far-right Vox party. However, a staunchly pro-EU socialist like Letta would be the ideal solution for the Spanish center-left.
The four political leaders also share the priority of trying to soften the positions of ultra-nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — a task of significant importance, given that Hungary is poised to take over the six-year rotating presidency. month of the European Council on July 1.
According to this scenario, Enrico Letta could be the ideal solution for the main pro-EU governments and the Union’s parliamentary groups.
Who is Enrico Letta?
Former Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta is responsible for (*write a high-level report on the future of the EU single market since 2023**)(Single market: “We must establish freedom of innovation”, according to Enrico Letta). He is also president of the Jacques Delors Institute, a pro-EU think tank based in Paris.
His sudden withdrawal from the leadership race at the prestigious Science Po university in Paris gave credence to speculation that he had embraced the idea of a top EU job.
ADVERTISEMENTIf his candidacy fails, Mr Letta is also tipped to become the EU’s next special envoy to the Middle East.
While Ms Meloni could oppose Mr Letta to achieve her own goals, there does not appear to be any tension between the two, although Mr Letta was her main rival in the last Italian elections in 2022.
Judging from their recent interactions, Letta and Meloni’s personal relationship is based on mutual respect and a rather cordial relationship, regardless of their obvious political antagonism.
Over the past five years, ordinary political rivalries have transformed into antagonistic fistfights, such as the current impasse between the European Parliament’s centrist grand coalition (EPP, S&D and Renew) and the super-conservative bloc, a diverse landscape that extends from nationalist-conservatives to the far-right.
However, Parliament only has limited power, which is why other key institutional functions are of such importance at present.
ADVERTISEMENTThe institutional structure of the European Union grants governments the prerogative to make crucial decisions. The role of the European Parliament is to guide and set the pace for certain political actions, but not to impose them.
