Italy nominates Raffaele Fitto to European Commission

BRUSSELS ― Italy has nominated its Europe minister, Raffaele Fitto, to be its next European commissioner.
Signaling Fitto’s move to Brussels would be a loss for the administration in Rome, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said the decision was “painful” for her, and “also for him, and for the government, but it is a necessary choice.”
The announcement comes as no surprise. The 55-year-old is one of Meloni’s few allies who is well-known in EU power corridors and was tipped as the favorite for the commissioner job for months.
A former lawmaker for the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), Fitto is seen as a bridge-builder who can help Italy secure an influential portfolio in the next Commission. Each member country gets one choice but it’s up to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to decide which job they do.
Meloni told the cabinet on Friday afternoon that she would be communicating Fitto’s name as Italy’s candidate for European commissioner to von der Leyen within the day. 
According to a government official, Meloni told cabinet it was a “delicate and very important choice for us and for Italy in the years to come.”
“We have chosen a person who has a great deal of experience and who has been able to manage the responsibilities entrusted to him in this government with excellent results,” Meloni said.
“Despite the fact that I see many Italians rooting against an appropriate role for our nation, I have no reason to believe that this role will not be recognized,” she continued.
Of the EU’s 27 countries, only Belgium is still to announce its choice.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani expressed hopes that Fitto could become an “executive vice president” of the Commission, which would give him oversight over several portfolios.
Von der Leyen, who hails from the EPP, is expected to assign jobs by Sept. 11. The final hurdle is a confirmatory vote by the European Parliament that is expected to happen between the end of September and early October.
The Italian government aims to have control over EU regional policy ― although it will have to compete with the governments of Greece and Bulgaria to get that role ― and the EU’s post-pandemic cashpot, which is worth €724 billion and of which Italy is the main beneficiary.
This story has been updated.