Giorgia Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen meet again in Rome two months after the first institutional meeting.
The atmosphere was very different from the circumspection and mistrust with which the two leaders had looked at each other in Brussels at the beginning of November, when the Italian premier had only entered office a few days ago . Italy has more than one arrow in its bow: so far it has met deadlines , presented a maneuver that balances the accounts and is preparing to ask to "implement" the Pnrr to make it more current.
An "excellent opportunity", underlines Palazzo Chigi, for "an exchange of views in preparation for the extraordinary European Council of 9-10 February dedicated in particular to the economy and migration". And to "reaffirm", on the Italian side, "the commitment to the Pnrr".
After condemning the violence in Brazil and confirming their common commitment to support Kiev, the two leaders discussed without disagreement one of the issues at the center of the Council of 9 and 10 February, i.e. the dossier on aid to EU industry: this is , the challenge that von der Leyen has set between now and next summer, that of creating a European Inflation Reduction Act in response to the American inflation law. A challenge that Italy finds favorable , as Meloni assures, reiterating that a European response is essential, avoiding actions by individual countries based on spending capacity.
Von der Leyen, sources at Palazzo Chigi say, would have "very much appreciated" the work done by Rome so far on the Pnrr and would have encouraged the Italian delegation to "continue in this direction", which in turn would have put the various options on the table to arrive at changes also looking at RepowerEu and the funds linked to cohesion policies.
The other key issue was the management of migrants . Meloni would have reiterated that the external borders of the EU must be defended and the landings stopped by intervening on the countries of origin of the migrations, finding von der Leyen in agreement on the need for a "European response" which, however, will hardly arrive in February. The times for an agreement among 27 on migrants are long. And on the relocations, Sweden, the current president of the Union, has already made it known that it has no intention of taking any initiatives.
(Unioneonline/D)