Italy’s centre-right wants Meloni in EPP

Good morning from Bucharest,

Italy’s Forza Italia party, affiliated with the European People’s Party (EPP), wants right-wing Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which is currently with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), to join the EPP family to strengthen Italy’s influence in the European Parliament, MEP Salvatore De Meo told Euractiv.

Speaking to Euractiv on the sidelines of the EPP congress in Bucharest, the MEP said, “[Former Forza Italia leader Silvio] Berlusconi thought this, and [current leader] Antonio Tajani has always imagined that the Italian centre-right, everything, even the League [ID], could find a way into the EPP”.

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Meanwhile, Max Griera and Nick Alipour report that national centre-right parties used the EPP congress on Wednesday as a platform to air grievances on national issues and rebel against the party line, as many feel the squeeze of home voters’ swing to the far-right.

As EPP leaders discuss their future EU plans, in Berlin, the opposition right-wing parties (CDU, CSU) are actively preparing for the collapse of the Social Democrat-led government coalition, writes Oliver Noyan.

In a fresh nod to EU farmers who have been protesting across the bloc for weeks, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council included a political message of support in its draft compromise on the controversial EU corporate due diligence law, seen by Euractiv.

Meanwhile, Angelo di Mambro reported that on Thursday, the European Parliament Trade Committee will vote on whether to add new limits on trade benefits with Kyiv to appease EU farmers or approve the new rules without any changes to speed up their adoption to help the country in the ongoing war.
Special summit on economy, competitiveness: A special meeting of the European Council will be held on 17 and 18 April, the office of Council President Charles Michel announced on Wednesday. EU leaders announced last December that two summits would be held ahead of the EU elections in June. A summit on 21-22 March will focus on security, defence and foreign affairs, and the April summit on economy and competitiveness.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Zoran Radosavljevic, Alice Taylor, Sofia Stuart Leeson]