Antonio Tajani (Rome, 1953) is attending the European People's Party congress in Valencia as the leader of Forza Italia. The Italian Vice President and Foreign Minister has been the President of the European Parliament and declares himself a "friend of Spain" with his fluent Spanish. He arrived on Monday morning to meet with Italian entrepreneurs with interests in Spain and later experienced a blackout.
How did you experience the blackout in Valencia?
Everything suddenly went dark, then the situation improved. From Valencia, I have been in constant contact with our Ambassador in Madrid and the Italian consulates to assess the situation and stay informed of any critical situations for our fellow citizens. Our role at the Crisis Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to advise everyone to carefully follow the instructions of the Spanish authorities. We have firsthand and dramatically seen how fragile our systems and societies can be. My full solidarity is with the Spanish people.
What should the new European People's Party be like?
The protagonist of the stability of the European Union. We are the largest party in the European Parliament. We have 15 European commissioners, including the President of the Commission. Great founders of the EU were from our political family. We need to carry out a peaceful revolution to change Europe.
What do you mean by that?
To introduce major reforms to bring Europe closer to its citizens. We need to appoint a single President of the Council and the European Commission, make more decisions by majority instead of unanimity, give more power to the European Parliament, which currently lacks legislative initiative power. We need to reduce regulations. For every new regulation introduced, two must be canceled. We also need to complete the single market and change the energy transition strategy to focus on climate change. The so-called Green Deal by the former commissioner Frans Timmermans did a lot of harm to agriculture and industry when our continent is predominantly industrial and agricultural.
How to change the climate policy in the EU?
I am not against achieving climate goals, but environmental policy should not be ideological. I did not approve of what Timmermans did; I always voted against legislating with ideology because we need to be more pragmatic when it comes to environmental policy. As Pope Francis said, man is at the center of all other issues, including the environment.
Is it inevitable for the EPP to form an alliance with the far right? Does polarization with the left lead to that?
I advocate for more dialogue with the conservatives of the ECR [the European party of Giorgia Meloni], which is right-wing but not far-right. It varies in each country, but at the European level, we need to engage more with conservatives and not just with socialists. It is important because to implement necessary reforms, a broad majority is needed. The EPP can achieve more if it not only engages with socialists but also with conservatives to address issues of interest to citizens.
Traditional alliances are usually between popular, socialist, and liberal parties...
The EPP needs to reform itself to create a more modern and competitive EU capable of responding to people's needs. If we don't, far-right and far-left populists will gain more votes. All this without compromising European values. Europe is at the core of our identity in the EPP.
But Sánchez also considers Meloni far-right. How do you engage with both socialists and Meloni's conservatives?
The European socialist party is not just the PSOE, that's why we always seek dialogue with everyone. The EPP works to defend its values, and Meloni is a conservative leader, not far-right, and this is a fact, not an opinion. The AFD is far-right, not Meloni; the rest is propaganda.
Sánchez even called for a cordon sanitaire against Meloni. How do you manage this as the head of Italian diplomacy?
We are friends with Spain. The visit of His Majesty the King to Rome was very positive. The relations between Italy and Spain are not between parties but between friendly peoples. The bonds are so strong that no government can sever them. It's a historical friendship; we share values, mentality... we are Mediterranean with a modern outlook on life. We are Latin languages. That's why the Spanish are brothers to the Italians. We share a common vision of Latin America. We are together there and can do more to prevent it from becoming a territory dominated by the Chinese. I don't believe in applying a cordon sanitaire to Italy, which plays a leading role globally. Italy hosts summits with Iran and the United States to seek a solution to the nuclear issue and organized the extraordinary successful funeral of the Pope.
Sánchez did not attend the funeral in Rome. Does that matter to you?
It's his decision, but the Head of State, the King, did attend, and that's very good for us. The King is doing a great job for the unity of Spain and the EU. He awarded me the Carlos V Prize, and I am still grateful for that. I know him well, and he is a very important political figure for Europe, as a European Head of State, he performs excellently. He is a friend of Italy and ensures a good relationship between Spain and Italy regardless of the current governments. The relations are not between my party and the PSOE but between Spain and Italy. We respect the will of the Spanish people and a government with socialist President and Foreign Minister. We may have different political positions at the party level, but that will not harm the relations between Spain and Italy. I will never advocate for a cordon sanitaire against the Spanish government.
What do you think of Feijóo? Will he become the Prime Minister?
Alberto Núñez Feijóo is a good leader. I met him when he was the President of the Xunta de Galicia, and the PP is the future of Spain. The PP is the largest party in Spain, but it does not govern due to the socialist alliance with Catalan separatists, although the majority of votes were for Feijóo. We indeed elected Dolors Montserrat as the Secretary-General of the EPP. She is a very Catalan but also very Spanish woman. She is a strong woman and has the support of the Italian vote in her election. I also recall the good cooperation with the previous Spanish Secretary-General, Antonio López-Istúriz. We have always been friendly delegations in the EPP and share a similar vision on defending values, immigration, industrial policy, support for SMEs... Forza Italia and the PP work well together.
Do you think there will be a tariff agreement with Trump? How was Meloni's meeting with him?
I believe we will reach a tariff agreement. The trade war harms both Europeans and Americans. Meloni met with Trump as the President of the Italian Council but worked with Von der Leyen because if Europe wants to reach an agreement, it is the responsibility of the EU. We work well with Commissioner Sefcovic. He is very capable and experienced. The goal is zero tariffs between Europe and the United States, as Jean Claude Juncker also envisioned during Trump's first term. We aim for a transatlantic single market between Europe and the US without tariffs. The Italian government has good relations with the new Trump Administration, and Meloni can be a bridge to facilitate a summit between the EU and the US. The message we received at the Pope's funeral was very positive, and we will work towards that.
Will there be a US-EU summit in Rome?
Meloni has invited Trump and is working to organize a summit between the US and Europe in Rome. It would be crucial because we are two sides of the same coin. We share an identity, we are democracies, and our competition is with other regions. We must defend unity in the West and transatlantic relations. We must uphold NATO and strengthen the Alliance further.
Were you concerned about Sánchez's trip to China before Meloni's visit to Trump?
China is a trading partner for us, but the US is our primary partner outside the EU. You cannot replace the US with China. If there is an issue, it must be resolved within the family. You can't just switch houses. We share the same home, and what we need to do is talk, talk, and talk with the US and not run to Beijing.
Will we see Meloni in China?
She has already visited China. It is true that we withdrew from China's Belt and Road Initiative because it did not align with our commercial strategy, but we are working to strengthen connections from India, Israel, the Emirates, Africa, and Italy. However, we maintain good relations with the Chinese.
Will Zelensky have to cede Crimea to Russia?
That question should be directed to him. We support Ukraine, but Zelensky and Putin will be at the table first, and then we can involve Europe because our sanctions on Russia will be part of the final agreement, but initially, it's between them. We advocate for peace with justice. If peace is not just, it is not peace. Peace cannot be Ukraine's disaster. That's why we believe in helping Ukraine resolve this situation and strive for peace.
Who was the third chair at the Vatican?
(Laughs) I don't know. The seated individuals were Trump and Zelensky.
Will Italy withdraw the Digital Tax to align positions with the US?
We need to see how the situation evolves, but companies operating in Europe, whether European or not, must pay their fair share. We are open to discussions with everyone, but there are no rule changes for now.
How do you work with Albares?
We have worked well together; we may not always share the same political stance, but we align on issues like the Sahel. It's a left-wing government, and ours is center-right with differing positions, but our relationship with Spain is with the Spanish people, regardless of the government's ideology. We have our political views, but there will always be institutional cooperation.