The European Council and Renzi’s choice

Corriere della Sera editorial on 18/02/2019.

Dear Director,
With reference to Paolo Valentino’s commentary on “Renzi “regrets” his choice of Mogherini”, in which he speaks of the alleged mistake of not appointing Enrico Letta as President of the European Council, I would like to make it clear that the then President Matteo Renzi never ruled out any hypothesis regarding appointments to senior European posts.

The hypothesis of Letta as President of the European Council was never on the table. And on more than one occasion the hypothesis of giving the presidency of the Council to an Italian has been absolutely ruled out, given the presence of an Italian at the head of the European Central Bank.

Among the many hypotheses circulating, neither Merkel nor Hollande ever put forward the candidacy of Enrico Letta. For the well-known political, gender and geographical balances, an Italian candidacy has therefore never been in the running. For the Presidency of the European Council, the hypothesis of Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former Danish Prime Minister, was in the field on the social democratic side.

It was also necessary to entrust a high office to an exponent from Eastern Europe. That is why the post of High Representative fell to an Italian. Moreover, the hope and the reasons behind this choice related to the importance and the need – rightly recalled by Paolo Valentino and still valid today – to lay the foundations for a common foreign policy launch, especially in areas strategic for Italy, such as the Mediterranean and Africa. A goal that remains strategic in 2019.