Raffaele Fitto, the candidate from the Italian far-right party Fratelli d’Italia for the position of Vice-President of the European Commission, was questioned today in the European Parliament. During the three-hour session, Fitto provided answers about his plans for the future cohesion policy of the European Union, but was evasive when asked about the rule of law. When questioned about the investigations by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Italy concerning the possible misuse of EU recovery funds, Fitto claimed that Italy was “a victim of its own success” in combating fraud. The alleged misuse of funds falls within the period when Raffaele Fitto was the responsible Italian minister.

Daniel Freund, Member of the European Parliament for the Greens, comments:

“Raffaele Fitto is completely unfit for the position of Vice-President of the European Commission. Today, he repeatedly failed to distance himself from the fascist past of his party, Fratelli d’Italia. It should be the easiest thing for an EU high-ranking politician to condemn totalitarian ideologies. Fitto had no explanation for why he has repeatedly voted against rule of law, democracy, and EU reform resolutions in the past. There should be no place at the top of the EU Commission for someone with such unclear commitment to European values. 75% of corruption investigations into the EU Corona fund concern Italy, which was under Fitto’s previous responsibility as Minister. He must not now take responsibility for the entire fund at the EU level.”

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Further Procedure: 

The necessary two-thirds majority among the coordinators in the Committee on Regional Development was not reached today, partly because the Green/EFA group spoke out against Fitto. No vote has taken place yet. The decision has been postponed until Wednesday. Under pressure from the Christian Democrats, the decisions on all Vice-Presidents of the European Commission have been postponed from today to tomorrow. They are expected to be voted on as a package solution.