Sidelining Giorgia Meloni may have unwittingly taught her how to work around the union’s rules.
If there’s one thing more challenging than pushing for greater political integration within the EU, it’s attempting to reduce it. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has emerged as the latest leader to try to reshape the EU from within, but like her predecessor David Cameron, she has largely failed in her efforts.
The results of the June EU elections highlighted a growing shift in support toward the right. However, this shift has not impacted the way Brussels operates. After the elections, Meloni sought to become part of the broad coalition that governs the EU. Yet, other leaders deliberately sidelined her, opting instead to maintain the current four-party coalition made up of the center-right, liberals, Socialists, and Greens. This coalition re-elected Ursula von der Leyen, sticking to a policy platform that, while slightly less Green than before, remained largely unchanged.
Meloni’s sidelining by the EU’s leadership is significant. By excluding her from the core decision-making processes, the EU’s leaders have inadvertently strengthened her position. Instead of integrating her into the established political framework, they have pushed her to explore alternative strategies and work around the EU’s rules, potentially creating a new dynamic that could challenge the Union’s status quo in the future.
This situation may ultimately prove counterproductive for the EU. By resisting the rise of the hard right, the Union may have inadvertently fueled the very forces it sought to suppress. Meloni’s political positioning outside the main EU coalitions could give her the leverage needed to undermine traditional power structures within Brussels and further consolidate support from right-wing groups across Europe.
The future of the EU may be shaped by leaders like Meloni who, feeling excluded, may seek to bypass established channels of influence and forge new paths for political power. As the EU faces increasing pressure from nationalist and populist movements, its current strategies of exclusion may only serve to deepen divisions and exacerbate challenges to its cohesion.