It’s now decided: Louis DiMaio he will be the EU special envoy for the Middle East. After the stop announced in November by the new Meloni government, the appointment has now been made official by the High Representative for Foreign Policy, Joseph Borrell. “I consider that the best candidate is Luigi Di Maio”, writes Borrell in the letter sent the day before yesterday to all the European representations. So the nomination will go through the Cops (The Political and Security Committee) and then it will be ratified by the Commission itself. Di Maio will be in office from 1 June until 28 February 2025, 21 months.
Once upon a time Luigi Di Maio
by Francesco Merlo
Luigi Di Maio, the return to EU politics
The appointment had been suspended after the electoral victory of the Italian centre-right. Now the veto has been overcome and the High Representative, who alone has the power to appoint, has decided to formalize the choice. The candidacy of the former M5S foreign minister had been included in a “short list” made up of four names: his, in fact, that of the Greek Dimitris Avramopoulos (former minister and former European commissioner), the Cypriot Markos Kiprianou (former foreign minister) and finally a former Slovakian foreign minister. In the “report cards” the circumstance that Di Maio himself was the protagonist of a tough clash with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates was also evaluated. Two years ago the then Conte government decided to block the sale of Italian arms to those two countries. The reaction was very harsh, especially from Abu Dhabi which responded with a sort of embargo of all Italian products. The then foreign minister had to spend a lot of time and a few visits to the two countries to restore relations.
It was Borrell himself last July who announced the decision to appoint “a European Union special envoy for the Gulf region, because we know that security issues in this area – in the wider Middle East – are very important to us “. And the reference was to Iran, Yemen and the energy issue. That is oil. On the contrary, with the war in Ukraine the need to establish new relations precisely by virtue of oil purchases has intensified. And it has become central.
This acceleration is also read as a message to the Italian government which is placing political vetoes on too many dossiers: from the time of the Pnrr to the Mes up to the issue of bathing establishments. Di Maio’s appointment is also a signal for Palazzo Chigi.
How much will he earn and for how long: the assignment to Di Maio
The contract envisaged for the EU special envoy for the Gulf will have a maximum duration of two years (from 1 June to 28 February 2025, in this case) and a remuneration “determined through a direct agreement between the adviser and authority”, as a spokesman for the Community Executive explained to Ansa.
Today there are nine special representatives established, including the one for the Sahel entrusted to Italy Emanuela Del Re, former Deputy Foreign Minister. With this new position, Di Maio should earn around 12,000 euros net per month, with a favorable tax regime and total coverage of staff expenses.
Di Maio sent to the EU for the Gulf, the reactions
“The Italians have voted: they have chosen and continue to choose the centre-right, not the left or the grillini.
That of Brussels is a shameful indication, an insult to Italy and to thousands of clever diplomats”, comment sources of the League after the indication, by Joseph Borrell, EU Foreign Minister, of Luigi Di Maio special envoy of the EU for the Persian Gulf.