Italy’s growing political weight is becoming a structural factor at a moment when the United States under Donald Trump is openly criticizing the EU’s bureaucracy and regulatory rigidity.
The big picture: At the ECR Study Days in Rome — a four-day gathering with delegations from 18 EU member states — the group outlined what it sees as a “new phase” for the Union. The event is a strategic summit of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR), of which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia, is a member.
The message: Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, underscored how the Italian government under PM Meloni is shaping both internal dynamics within ECR and broader EU priorities.
- Fitto’s message is twofold: ECR aims not to remain at the margins but to shape legislative and strategic decisions.
Driving the news: Fitto highlighted ECR’s evolution from a small cluster of MEPs to a group with real negotiating weight in the 2024–2029 cycle.
- Hosting the meeting in Rome is itself a signal: Italy is seen as central to redefining the conservative agenda in Europe.
- Co-chairs Nicola Procaccini and Patryk Jaki opened the sessions alongside Carlo Fidanza. The delegation also held a private audience with Pope Leo XIV.
What ECR wants to change:
- Policy priorities
- Single Market: removing internal barriers to boost growth and competitiveness.
- External dimension: strengthening the EU’s global outreach while maintaining a stable Western alignment despite current frictions with Washington.
- Defence: support for the EDIP framework and for Europe’s defence industrial base, with ECR playing a prominent role in parliamentary negotiations.
- Immigration, space, AI, agriculture: identified as strategic files for the current and upcoming legislative cycle.
- Political identity
- Some interventions, including that of MEP Elena Donazzan, stressed the need for Europe’s action to rest on Christian cultural roots — a signal of differentiation from the identity lines of the EPP and Renew.
Between the lines: Tensions with Trump’s United States should not derail transatlantic cooperation but prompt a recalibrated Western dialogue, in order to empower the “Western Hemisphere” – the centre of new U.S. National Security Strategy.
The bottom line: ECR sees an opportunity to push for an EU that is less rule-heavy, more competitive, and more focused on defence. Within this strategy, Italy under Giorgia Meloni is cast as the main driver — a role that weighs more heavily now as the Union faces growing pressure from its closest ally.
