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Can Meloni’s balancing act continue? by Luigi Scazzieri, 21 August 2023 Giorgia Meloni has blended Atlanticism and pragmatism towards the EU with right-wing populism on immigration, cultural issues and green policy. Meloni’s political longevity will determine whether her model will become a template for other right-wing nationalists. When Giorgia Meloni became Italy’s prime minister last October, many worried that the Brothers of Italy leader would start a spending spree that would endanger economic stability, embark on a collision course with the EU, and undermine Western unity towards Russia. These concerns stemmed from Meloni’s political origins in Italy’s post-fascist far-right, and from her election manifesto, which promised to reduce taxes, boost spending, cut immigration and assert Italy’s national interests more strongly in the EU. These concerns proved overblown. Meloni’s government, which includes Matteo Salvini’s right-wing populist League and the conservative Forza Italia, founded by the late Silvio Berlusconi, has pursued a broadly restrained fiscal policy. Meloni ditched or watered down expensive pre-election promises that would have destroyed her economic credibility and sparked doubts about the sustainability of Italy’s public debt, which stood at 147 per cent of GDP at the end of 2022. Meloni has not sought confrontation with the European Commission and has toned down her rhetoric towards the EU. Apart from her efforts to dilute EU green policies, Meloni has mostly focused on Italy’s traditional priorities: securing greater flexibility in the EU’s fiscal rules, advocating for more joint EU borrowing to tackle external challenges, and demanding greater EU efforts to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Italy irregularly. Meloni has constantly sought to portray her approach to the EU as more assertive than her predecessors. But in reality, her record is meagre. Italy’s push for more flexible fiscal rules and greater EU-level investments has not been successful. The same goes for Meloni’s efforts to water down EU green policies, for example delaying the phase-out of internal combustion engine cars. On migration, Meloni claims credit for pushing the EU to toughen its approach, but the Union’s stance has long shifted to control over the external borders, as the only aspect of migration policy that all member-states could agree on. However, crucially, Meloni has refrained from strongly criticising the EU or other member-states when things did not go her way. CER INSIGHT: CAN MELONI’S BALANCING ACT CONTINUE? 21 August 2023
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