• Gentiloni indicated by the Government as European Commissioner

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06 September 2019First face to face between Paolo Gentiloni and Ursula von der Leyen this morning in Brussels. An eye-catching meeting of about an hour, which took place in a climate of great friendship, the one between the Italian candidate in the EU commission and the elected president. To report it Brussels sources quoted by the agency Ansa.

In welcoming the former Italian premier, von der Leyen gave him a tour of the transition team's offices.

The interview will serve to guide von der Leyen's decisions in the allocation of portfolios, with the Italian ambition remaining that of economic affairs.


Yesterday Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte informed the Council of Ministers that he had communicated the name of Paolo Gentiloni to the President of the EU Commission as an Italian member of the new commission.

The former president of the Council could take the place of the Frenchman Pierre Moscovici, although as an alternative von der Leyen would not have excluded the possibility of attributing to Italy the portfolio of Commerce or that of Competition. In discussions with other governments and candidate commissioners, von der Leyen would have kept his hands free and as far as we know would be ready to meet Rome's demands. "Italy is an important country. It has priority," said a source close to the future president of the Commission.

The Financial Times forecasts a competition portfolio
According to the Financial Times, Paolo Gentiloni could be the next Commissioner for Competition. Citing two European sources, the British newspaper states that Gentiloni is preaching to get a "leading role" in the next Commission and citing two EU officials he adds that "the Italian is destined to become the new guarantor of the competition of the EU ". Yesterday several sources had talked about the possibility of attributing to Italy the competition portfolio: the chair now occupied by Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager, was one of the options on the table for Italy in addition to economic affairs and commerce.

"Von der Leyen will take Gentiloni's preferences into account for the portfolio," another EU source said. According to a third source, the Italian government explicitly asked for economic affairs. The economic affairs chair would be in line with the priority contained in the yellow-red government's program to promote "the changes necessary to overcome the excessive rigidity of European constraints" on public accounts. Italy should also be given the vice-presidency of the Commission, although the intentions of the German president the two vice presidents actually operational and of real political weight will be those that will be attributed to the Dutch socialist Frans Timmermans and the Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager.