Le ministre italien des Finances, président de l’Eurogroupe ?[en] 

The prime ministers of Italy and Poland failed to agree on the name of the conservative candidate for the presidency of the European Parliament during the European People's Party (EPP) summit on 18 June in Brussels.

They postponed the final decision to 7 July. If a compromise cannot be found, the issue will be put to a vote in which the Polish candidate is most likely to prevail, due to the support of numerous influential German and French members of the EPP.

Poland's candidate is former Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, while Italy is pushing for Mario Mauro, former vice-president of the European Parliament (EurActiv 19/06/09).

Last Friday (19 June) at the European Council, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi publicly endorsed Tremonti's candidacy for the chair of the Eurogroup, which brings together finance ministers of the 16 eurozone countries and meets monthly before the EU Economic Council.

"Within a year and a half, the president of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, should leave. I see that position would fit our Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti," Berlusconi told journalists at the end of the EU summit on Friday. Indeed, Juncker could step down even earlier over tensions with Germany and France over banking secrecy rules.

Tremonti's ambitions yesterday (23 June) received an unexpected helping hand from the European Commission, which in its 2009 report on EU public finances used unusually positive words for Italy's "prudent" response to the financial crisis.

Although Italy's public debt is among the highest in Europe, the Commission acknowledged for the first time that increased yields on bonds have so far had a "limited" impact on government expenditure. Moreover, Brussels underlined the importance of "the sound financial position of the Italian private sector," and in particular of households which have a tendency to save, in contrast with other countries.

A Commission official also said private debt had thus far been overlooked as a way of assessing a country's stability, and that "it might be taken into account in the future". Tremonti himself has been backing this idea in recent weeks.

Mauro-Tremonti swap?

In his speech last week, Berlusconi linked Tremonti's candidacy to Italy's defeat in the battle for the presidency of the European Parliament. Berlusconi openly supports his candidate Mario Mauro for the presidency on behalf of the EPP, but a stronger coalition within the party is backing the alternative candidacy of former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek.

Berlusconi made clear that his chances of success were fading "because we arrived late in this negotiation," he acknowledged. The prime minister stressed that "if Mauro was not to become the president of the European Parliament, we would have other credits, such as important portfolios within the Commission or the presidency of the Eurogroup".

Tajani for the home affairs portfolio?

As for important positions within the Commission, Italy is aiming to win back the post of justice and home affairs Commissioner, which it gave away last year to obtain the then-useful portfolio of transport. The Commission had to give its green light to the controversial privatisation of national air carrier Alitalia, strongly supported by Berlusconi himself.

Now that the deal has been done, Rome is looking again at one of its long-standing policy priorities in Brussels, which is establishing a genuine burden-sharing system to counter illegal immigration. Italy wants EU member states to split the costs of sheltering the thousands of illegal migrants who arrive on Italian shores from Africa every year.

Italian Commissioner Antonio Tajani has been already confirmed by Berlusconi as his choice for the next Commission's five-year term. However, sources noted possible interest in the position from Berlusconi's powerful ally in Italy, the Lega Nord, a far-right party which gained ground in the European Parliament elections. Nevertheless, Tajani is in pole position for the post.