Upcoming regional elections and the long-running dispute between Brussels and Rome on beach ownership will dominate Italian politics in the coming months, with the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (ECR), along with Matteo Salvini’s Lega (ID) and Antonio Tajani’s Forza Italia (EPP), due to take key decisions at an upcoming summit that could threaten the government’s stability.
“It’s going to be a very complex year for everyone”, Meloni said In the traditional end-of-year press appointment, referring to important deadlines, EU elections and the Italian presidency of the G7, which has just begun.
The regional elections to be held in the coming months will force the leaders to a summit to decide on the candidates, and the choice will not be easy.
The first region to go to the polls will be Sardinia where the current governor belongs to the Lega, but Fratelli d’Italia are determined to put forward their own candidate.
Veneto will be next, which also currently has a Lega governor.
Strong in the polls (28.2%), Meloni wants to take over the productive regions of northern Italy: Veneto, Piedmont, and Lombardy. But she will have to make compromises if she does not want to upset her allies who, although much lower in the polls (Lega 9.4%; Forza Italia 7.2%), contribute to the solidity of the government.
The parties are already campaigning for the EU elections that will take place in June, and – within the centre-right – it will also have to be decided whether or not the leaders will run for office.
On the European front, the Meloni government must decide how to go about the long-running dispute between Italy and the EU over beach ownership and concessions.
The European Commission points out that the decree approved by Meloni’s government in December 2022, by introducing a one-year postponement of tenders, represents an automatic renewal of existing concessions to the same holders and is therefore contrary to European law.
Salvini is not inclined to pander to the demands of Brussels “in the name of Europe” and does not want to “sell out” the “sacrifices” of the Italians, according to a letter signed by Lega in reply to Mattarella’s position. Meloni announced the government will consider “further clarification on the matter”.
“Now the goal is a reorganisation rule that will allow action to be taken on the current jungle, in a discussion with the European Commission and the operators, to avoid infringement and to give certainty to the rule”, Meloni added.
(Federica Pascale | Euractiv.it)
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