After Italy, Europe. Elly Schlein lands in the capital of the Union to start “the new course of the party, even here in Brussels, which I know”. This is the extreme synthesis of the mission of the secretary of the Democratic Party on the day of the summits of the heads of state and government. On the one hand Giorgia Meloni, engaged in the work of the European Council, on the other she, determined to gain credit as a real alternative to what Italy offers on a political level.
He participates in the meeting of the European Socialist Party (PES), where he meets the leaders of Spain, Portugal, Germany, but also the European commissioners of the social democratic family. Here she assures that she is “projected for a great result in the next European elections” in May 2024, when the European Parliament will have to be re-elected. We need to counter the advance of the right, nationalist, sovereignist and Euro-sceptic. A challenge that Schlein accepts, offering the image of leader and leadership. “It’s nice to return to Brussels with such a great responsibility on his shoulders which is the relaunch of the Democratic Party”.
Then he goes to the Commission to take stock of the thorniest dossiers. Sustainability, immigration, economic governance. But first of all he wants to ensure that “the Democratic Party will continue to support and guarantee support for Ukraine against Putin’s criminal invasion”. On all hot topics Schlein has recipes to offer. On the Green Deal and the maxi agenda for the green economy, “I ensured the maximum support of the Democratic Party for the dossiers” during the conversation with Frans Timmermans, the executive vice president of the European Commission and responsible for the green agenda. “I didn’t mention the attacks by the right”, to which he spares no criticism. On the “no” to stopping traditional engines from 2035, the majority parties are “mistaken”. The change in mobility is needed, but the point is that “this right pretends not to see the problems that climate change produces, as demonstrated by the drought” that is gripping northern Italy. Like Pd, the line is different, “we continue to support the ambitions of the European Commission”.
On the reforms, those to be implemented in Italy and those under discussion in Europe, full convergence on the Commission’s proposals and positions. The recovery plan (Pnrr), financed by the EU through the Recovery Fund, will not reopen. “The Pnrr is an extraordinary opportunity to relaunch the country, but the right seems to forget the right directions” to follow, he criticizes. And he wants to reassure Brussels in the face of Meloni and his government who are trying to renegotiate commitments and policies. «In addition to asking for flexibility, it is not clear where this government wants to take this instrument. We risk not putting these reforms on the ground”.
With Schlein, Italy offers fixed points and reliability. This is the message that the secretary of the Democratic Party wants to send to the interlocutors. Among others, the Commissioner for the Economy. The secretary of the Democratic Party acknowledges Gentiloni’s merit for working on elements of greater flexibility in the new stability pact. An approach that finds full support, to make possible “fundamental investments for the south of our country”. We need to give room for fiscal maneuver to those who don’t have any, and in this perspective you ask that “more resources be put in place” also to support the green and digital transition that Europe is asking for.
The secretary of the Democratic Party brings her contribution to the not simple debate on immigration. “Italy must ask for a new European Mare Nostrum for rescue in the Mediterranean when needed”. You therefore relaunch that operation conducted from 18 October 2013 to 31 October 2014 by the Italian Navy and Air Force. An operation not extended further due to the firm opposition in particular from the League, which considered it an incentive for smugglers. Today more than ever “it would make sense”, more than the conclusions of a summit that doesn’t have much to offer. «It is curious that Meloni sees it as a central theme in a text where it occupies a few lines that say nothing concrete».