You told journalists that discussions during the Monday informal meeting rather revolved around the message voters sent or directions that Europe might move in. What was the message?

What we arrived at was that rather than European elections, we had 27 domestic elections where European matters were discussed among others. Voter feedback was different in every member state. What the Italian prime minister feels her voters told her is different from what we were told.

That is the realization. That we do not just have 27 different states with their 27 different concerns but also different political forces inside those states, which have very different ideas. There is no single answer here.

You're fond of saying that elections have consequences. We saw the conservatives gain ground, while the greens and liberals lost backers. What should be the aftermath or consequence of this election. What are the policy changes needed in Europe to facilitate voters' wishes?

We will be discussing the strategic plan for Europe next week. Such things will be reflected therein, including security, which we deem extremely important, but also migration, which is crucial in the south.

As concerns green topics, we were told in no uncertain terms that climate change needs addressing as its consequences are severe. Especially in southern member states where summers get exceedingly hot. On the other hand, we have the economic perspective or which steps can be considered sensible in terms of not putting too much stress on the economy. The new European Commission president will have to address that in their program.

Does the fact that the greens got fever votes mean that attitudes have changed in terms of how the EU is expected to address the climate matter?

What has changed is that we have new problems. After the previous election, we had Covid, which led to recession. Birth rate also suffered in various crises, while the war highlighted the European security concern, which did not exist before. Life is in flux.

Do you understand Giorgia Meloni's concern that she has the third largest political family in Europe, while the ECR stands to be sidelined when it comes to the EU's top offices?

She has not described the concern as such.

But do you sympathize with the concern as expressed in the Italian press?

I spoke to her directly, and she said that she does not mind.

With every governing body, including the European Parliament, what matters is who can put together a majority, find enough common ground for a workable program. Italy is a major country that shouldn't be sidelined, and no one has any such plans. We need to consider the concerns she has, which have most to do with migration.

I take it that Meloni was a little hurt when the liberals, EPP and socialists convened for three hours, while the others had to wait.

That was an organizational matter which no one found particularly to their liking. Usually, we come together, everyone provides their feedback and reflection, followed by a discussion. In other words, first everyone raises their concerns, after which negotiators break off in smaller groups to talk things through in more detail.

This phase was canceled by the Council presidency. I do not know the reason. It clearly irritated everyone. You cannot reclaim time, with everyone on a busy schedule. So that rubbed everyone the wrong way.

You were discussed as one of Renew Europe's negotiators before the Monday meeting. However, you were not part of that smaller group on the day. Was the reason perhaps that you were the subject of conversation?

It was winter when we agreed that I could potentially be on the negotiating team. But after my colleagues thought I might be a suitable candidate [for EU high representative], I said myself that I cannot be a negotiator if I will also be a subject of discussion.

Does Giorgia Meloni's political family deserve one of the EU's top posts? Simply because they're the third largest faction now. They talk about it a lot.

Meloni said that she is not after any of the top postings.

Did she mean herself or ECR?

She meant the ECR.

Does this mean the old coalition can continue after all?

Looking at member state parliaments, coalitions hardly ever include everyone. Coalitions form between those with more common ground.

When I was in the European Parliament, ECR was under conservative control. The group was that of British conservatives, and they were very sensible, you could always work with them. It is a very different group today. It is a question of workable policies. I hope that it will be possible to find common ground with the ECR also in the future.

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