The European summit of 28 June was characterized by the prevalence, in the decision-making phase, of the People's Party, the Socialists and the Liberals who, in discussing the appointments of the high positions of the European Institutions, found the square, so to speak, on three personalities in particular: Ursula Von der Leyen, reconfirmed at the helm of the European Commission, Antonio Costa at the European Council, and Kaja Kallas as High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

Only Giorgia Meloni's Italy and Viktor Orban's Hungary express their disappointment, albeit in a different way, if it can be defined in such terms. Disappointment/dissent which, in all likelihood, could significantly reduce their negotiating power in the continuation of the negotiations. Probably, the abstention of the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the reconfirmation of Ursula Von der Leyen as head of the European Commission will have the greatest impact in the coming days, since, up until now, she had managed to maintain an appreciable relationship of cooperation with the itself, and as Forza Italia, the Government's ally on a national level, belongs to the European family of the People's Party, a staunch supporter of the outgoing president.

It is difficult to say whether there were really problems of "method and substance" as the Italian Prime Minister claimed, especially when one wants to consider that politics, even that of supranational importance, seems to have to be decided, and is decided, on numbers. The three political families that prevailed at the outcome of the polls on 9 and 10 June despite the surprising result of the right are those of the People's Party, the Socialists and the Liberals, not those of the right who also found satisfaction in the context of certain Member States by meeting the consent of the relevant citizens.

Well, having said this, beyond any consideration of recent political events, it will not be irrelevant to highlight certain aspects. Meanwhile, the one for which Italy is one of the Founding Countries of the European Union, since 1951, when with France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands it signed the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel. Therefore, the one for which on 25 March 1957, Italy itself, in Rome, hosted another event of fundamental importance, namely the signing of the Treaties that established the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. Finally, the one for which, even if we consider everything, we should probably remember that the European Commission of the German Ursula Von der Leyen, in the recent experience, had already been supported by a rather broad alliance compared to the Juncker experience, since it had had the merit of enhancing the political weight of the less influential groups. Meaning that, differently from what one might believe, already in the course of the previous experience of supranational government, an appreciable change of balance had been recorded within which, however, and since 1958, Italy itself has been the country who was able to rely on the assignment of more key roles within the Commission.

At present, therefore, there appear to be no compelling reasons to believe that Italy cannot once again be given a role of primary importance. The situation could be different with reference to the relations between the ECR and the majority European families, i.e. the European People's Party, Socialists and Liberals, which as a whole are an expression of different values. Even more so when the three political families, precisely the concrete expression of the majority in the Union, popular, socialist and liberal, unlike the right, are the bearers of a project to strengthen the Union themselves from a federal perspective. And even more so when, during her first mandate, Ursula Von der Leyen herself was, rightly or wrongly, and regardless of the greater or lesser approval of individual political groups, the effective protagonist of a historical period of profound transformation, adapting one's ideology, to the extent possible, to contingent needs. Suffice it to consider that, in the last five years, whatever one wants to say, Ursula Von der Leyen's Commission has been able to carry forward, by sharing them, many measures dear to the right, especially in the field of immigration, with reforms aimed at accelerating asylum procedures , to the adoption of more severe penalties for human traffickers, in terms of defining agreements with neighboring countries to try to stem the phenomenon of irregular immigration and so on, as well as measures dear to the left, especially in the field of protection of LGBTQ and workers' rights, as well as on the Green Deal plan. The issue, therefore, is anything but negligible. And, considering the policy inspired by the sense of balance conducted so far by President Von der Leyen, Giorgia Meloni's abstention on her reconfirmation would seem difficult to understand. It would be necessary to find, first of all at national level, an appropriate point of balance in terms of European perspectives and the objectives to be pursued.

Giuseppina Di Salvatore

(Lawyer – Nuoro)

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