By Silvia Marchetti
ROME (MaceNews) – Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni won the most votes among Italian parties at the European parliament elections over the weekend, becoming a top EU power-broker and key actor in the formation of the next European Commission.
“Meloni has consolidated her position, both domestically and at European level. In Italy the EU vote has always been a barometer of where national parties stand and who will likely win the next general elections in 2027. It seems quite clear that, five years ahead, she’s already the front runner,” said a ruling coalition official.
Meloni’s far-right party, Brothers of Italy, won 29 percent of the Italian vote, more than four times its showing in the last European elections in 2019, and even higher than the 26 percent she secured in 2022 when she became premier.
Her victory is just the latest win of far-right European parties in Europe, including Marie Le Pen’s Front National in France.
But unlike them, she does not sit at the opposition.
Meloni is the only EU head of state to have directly launched her candidacy at the EP, even if she will never go to Strasbourg, and the only EU government leader who has enormously benefited from the vote, while others like French President Emanuel Macron have “miserably failed,” said a senator of Brothers of Italy.
Macron, whose party secured less than 15 percent, has called for a ‘snap election’ after his defeat, and also in Germany far-right parties have been victorious.
The Social Democrats in Germany, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, came second after the far-right AfD.
The poor showing of Macron and Scholz, in contrast with Meloni, is what makes her leading power broker in the European Union.
In Italy, the Democratic Party led by Elly Schlein did well but secured barely 20%, not enough to approach Meloni.
“It is quite obvious that in Europe right now Meloni has the power to reshape the power balance, and this will inevitably bring more negotiating strength to Rome on many key issues like banks, a new set of fiscal rules that are more lenient, and more strict quotas for immigrants,” said an Italian government source.
This “rightist wave” is bound to give EU extremist and rightist parties more power in honing policies and securing fiscal leniency from Brussels, and also in shaping the upcoming formation of the next executive.
With more than 20 MPs at the European parliament now, Meloni is set to have a major role in the appointment of the next head of the European Commission, who is named by the newly-formed parliament.
“We don’t yet know whether we will back a second term for centre-right EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, but our vote will be crucial,” said another government source.
Meloni’s MPs at the EP could prove decisive in supporting von der Leyen’s second mandate, and this would grant Rome greater leverage over the EU Commission.
Meloni has never been quite clear about supporting von der Leyen, while she is in favor of supporting the former European central bank chief, Mario Draghi, at the helm of the EU Commission.
Meloni will have a crucial role in giving the greenlight to the new set of fiscal rules within the revised ‘stability and growth pact’ (SGP) that is still pending approval of the EU council, and which she deems too “strict.”
She will also be decisive in the approval of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) reform aimed at granting the eurozone a ‘common backstop’ in case of bank defaults.
A Democrat deputy warned that even as Meloni “seems to be basking in glory right now,” many EU obstacles ahead, mainly economic ones, “will mark her downfall.” Meloni’s supporters will become disenchanted with compromises she is likely to accept on EU fiscal rules and ESM reform, the deputy said.
Under the rotating Italian presidency, Meloni will host the G7 summit of heads of state and government this weekend in Puglia, southern Italy.
“Thanks to our consolidated stance at EU level, we have a greater voice also at the G7 summit where we will be pushing through key priorities like protection programs against artificial intelligence risks, and partnerships with Africa,” said the government official.