Why it matters: Italy is quietly consolidating its influence across Mediterranean governance by placing senior figures at the centre of key international and parliamentary institutions — from EU policymaking to UN-linked bodies — reinforcing Rome’s claim to leadership in a region vital to its security, energy, and migration interests.
What’s happening:
- The European Parliament has appointed Italian MEP Nicola Zingaretti as rapporteur on the upcoming EU Pact for the Mediterranean, a flagship initiative shaping Brussels’ strategy toward the region.
- The move follows Rome’s decision to nominate Maurizio Martina to lead the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), headquartered in Rome and deeply involved in food security across North Africa and the broader Mediterranean-African space.
- It also adds to an existing Italian leadership footprint in regional parliamentary diplomacy, including Giulio Centemero’s presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), which works closely with UN counterterrorism mechanisms.
Decoding the news: Italy’s clustering of leadership roles across Mediterranean-focused institutions signals more than coincidence.
- It reflects implicit recognition by partners that Italy occupies a central geopolitical position in the region.
- It gives Rome agenda-setting power in organisations that shape policies on migration, energy, security, development, and food supply chains.
- It aligns with Italy’s broader strategy — including the Mattei Plan for Africa — to project influence southward while anchoring EU engagement in the Mediterranean.
Zingaretti and the EU Mediterranean Pact. Zingaretti’s appointment places an Italian lawmaker at the heart of negotiations over one of the EU’s most consequential regional frameworks.
- As rapporteur, he will draft the Parliament’s position and broker compromises across political groups on cooperation with southern Mediterranean countries — spanning economic development, migration management, energy transition, and regional stability.
- The role gives Italy a direct hand in shaping how Europe approaches its southern neighbourhood amid geopolitical turbulence.
Martina and the FAO bid. Rome’s backing of Maurizio Martina for the FAO’s top job underscores the strategic importance Italy attaches to the Rome-based agency.
- Food security — particularly across North Africa, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa — sits at the intersection of migration pressures, climate risks, and political stability, all of which are core concerns for Italy.
- If successful, the bid would place an Italian at the helm of a UN body central to the management of crises that directly affect Mediterranean dynamics.
Between the lines: Centemero’s parliamentary diplomacy. Italy’s influence also runs through parliamentary channels.
- Giulio Centemero’s presidency of PAM — and its role within a UN-coordinated parliamentary counterterrorism mechanism — strengthens Rome’s profile as a convening power bridging European, Middle Eastern, and North African actors.
- The assembly’s balanced representation of northern and southern Mediterranean states positions Italy as a mediator in a fragmented region.
The bottom line: Taken together, these roles reinforce Italy’s ambition to act as a pivotal Mediterranean power — shaping multilateral agendas, steering regional governance, and linking European policy with African engagement.
- Rome’s strategy suggests that influence in the Mediterranean today is less about military presence and more about controlling the institutions that set the rules.
