Did Mattarella negotiate with Juncker instead of the Italian governments?
What does the former president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, say and make clear (worrying). Francis Walsingham's italics
The former President of the Commission, the Luxembourger Jean-Claude Juncker gave an interview to Il Sole 24 Ore on Sunday, edited by Beda Romano, in which he indulges in non-trivial considerations on some recent protagonists of Italian political life, with particular reference to the last two tenants of the Quirinale.
These are words whose literal tenor is not equivocal, it is so clear. Words as heavy as boulders because Juncker was president of the Commission from 2014 to 2019 and president of the Eurogroup from 2005 to 2013. Two fundamental crossroads for the management of the 2009 financial crisis and the 2011-2012 debt crisis, which put the stability of the monetary union and of the EU itself is in serious danger.
Regarding relations with the Italian political class, Juncker recalls that "There are Italian personalities who have profoundly influenced me – he replies -. First of all, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, a wise and thoughtful man, but also Giorgio Napolitano. In these years of fierce debates, Italians have demonstrated finesse in choosing their presidents who have always differentiated themselves from the majority of Italian political personalities for their seriousness and their ability to reflect beyond their person. They didn't like combination, but harmony." In French, the term combination refers to the Byzantinism of Italian politics, to backroom deals, to opportunism as an end in itself.
“With Giorgio Napolitano and then with Sergio Mattarella, who belongs to the group of presidents I have just mentioned, I have often negotiated, I won't say in secret but without too much publicity, when I had problems with the Italian prime ministers. Or rather, when the Italian prime ministers had problems with the president of the European commission. I loved my exchanges with Giorgio Napolitano. Listening to his descriptions of life from inside the Italian government I became a specialist in things I wasn't supposed to know…".
These are words spoken not by someone passing by, but by someone who began frequenting the corridors and control rooms of Brussels about 40 years ago, whose memories could fill more than one book. But being told that, when Italian prime ministers had problems with the Commission, he "negotiated" (in secret, or rather, without too much publicity) with Napolitano and Mattarella is like letting an elephant into a glassware shop. Everything comes out and several questions arise spontaneously.
What type of problems are you referring to? Perhaps to some attempt at resistance by the Berlusconi government and its minister Giulio Tremonti, compared to economic policy solutions that have weighed down our country for 10 years? Or the indecent pressure exerted in autumn 2018 on Giuseppe Conte's first government, by the Commission which considered a deficit/GDP of 2.4% a threat to Italy's financial stability, leaving us at the mercy of the markets and causing the spread to reach at 300?
That Count that Juncker ends up ridiculing when he recalls that "at the European Council he always began his speeches by saying: "As a professor of international law I must tell you…". Even though we liked the man, he ended up annoying the other leaders, so much so that Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven began his speeches in the same way: “As a plumber I have to tell you…”. And the Bulgarian Prime Minister Bojko Borisov did the same: "As a firefighter I have to tell you…". This was all a lot of fun."
Returning to relations with Colle, it would be interesting to know what type of negotiation Juncker is referring to. Already knowing that the President of the EU Commission negotiates with the President of the Republic and not with the Head of Government is a surprising fact. Even more so if this negotiation took place during "problems" between the government and the Commission. So, could one maliciously hypothesize that, as soon as the Italian government got in the way of some dossier, Juncker telephoned Colle to ask for mediation and convince the government? With what outcome? Who gave in? The Government or the Commission? But, assuming that it was a legitimate and permitted activity, today it would be interesting to know the subject of the negotiation.
But here we are still within the realm of known or at least always suspected facts. Because it is with that "I became a specialist in things I wasn't supposed to know" that we enter uncharted waters. Why are these things that Juncker shouldn't have known? What did Giorgio Napolitano report to Juncker about the "life of the Italian government", "descriptions" so delicate to the point that not even Juncker should have known them?
Answers that would be appropriate to receive officially in parliamentary chambers. At least.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/mattarella-negoziava-con-juncker-al-posto-dei-governi-italiani/ on Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:35:30 +0000.