You can tell why they’re so angry. Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has flown to Washington to negotiate a tariff deal with the United States on Italy’s terms. Her April 17th meeting with President Donald Trump, the first by a European leader since his administration’s sweeping tariff announcements, marks a pivotal moment not just for Italy but for a continent shackled and immobilised by Brussels’ bureaucratic yoke. Meloni’s audacious move—officially ‘coordinated’ with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen but unmistakably her own—signals a path forward for Italy and Europe: one of national sovereignty, pragmatic diplomacy, and liberation from the suffocating tutelage of the European Union’s unelected elites.
Meloni’s decision to engage Trump directly is a masterstroke for Italy. Facing a 20% U.S. tariff on European exports, Italy’s economy—heavily reliant on luxury goods, wine, and machinery—stands to lose billions. By securing a foothold in negotiations, Meloni aims to shield key actors while multiplying her international influence. Her rapport with Trump, who lauded her as a “fantastic leader,” gives Italy a diplomatic edge. Unlike von der Leyen’s abstract calls for a “zero-for-zero” deal, Meloni’s approach is grounded in realpolitik and the conditions of the new geopolitical cycle: she seeks concrete exemptions, perhaps trading increased defence spending or tougher EU stances on China for tariff relief. This not only bolsters Italy’s economic resilience but also elevates its stature within Europe, proving that a nation can act decisively without asking Brussels for permission.
For other European nations, Meloni’s gambit is the way forward. The EU, under von der Leyen’s faltering leadership, has floundered in its response to Trump’s tariffs. Its retaliatory 25% tariffs on $23.8 billion of U.S. exports, paused for 90 days, reveal a bloc more reactive than proactive. Von der Leyen’s strategy—phone calls with Norway, China, and the UAE—smacks of desperation, not strength. Her gibberish about a “peace project” Europe, divorced from the gritty realities of trade wars and geopolitical pulverisation, ignores how the era of free trade is now well and truly over. Meloni, by contrast, recognizes that nations, not supranational bureaucracies, are best equipped to navigate such storms. Her success could inspire others to follow, fracturing the EU’s monolithic facade and forcing it to reckon with its diminishing relevance.
Every European nation should emulate Meloni’s example. The EU’s one-size-fits-all approach to trade, epitomised by von der Leyen’s centralised negotiations, ignores the diverse needs of its 27 members. Germany’s car industry, France’s winegrowers, and Poland’s furniture sector face unique challenges under U.S. tariffs, yet Brussels demands they speak with one voice. This erases national priorities, reducing sovereign states to cogs in a machine run by bureaucrats in an ivory tower. Meloni’s defiance shows that direct bilateral talks can better serve national interests. Countries like Hungary or Austria, already skeptical of EU overreach, could secure tailored deals with the U.S., fostering competition and resilience across the continent—a sine qua non for a new time of European technological competitiveness and industrial rebirth.
Breaking free from von der Leyen’s tutelage would also restore Europe’s political soul. The EU’s obsession with uniformity has eroded the very diversity—cultural, historical, and economic—that defines the continent. Von der Leyen, unelected and aloof, embodies a system that prioritises ideology over pragmatism, as seen in her naive overtures to Beijing amid tariff chaos. Meloni, rooted in the interpretation of Italy’s palpable, objective national interest, understands that nations thrive when they assert their independence, not when they dissolve into a homogenised “European” mishmash. If France, Spain, or the Netherlands followed suit, Europe could rediscover its strength as a constellation of proud nations, not a bureaucratic monolith. Just look at the difference between the tariffs levied on Brexit Britain and the Brusselian empire.
Critics warn that Meloni’s solo act risks EU disunity—hopefully so. The EU’s track record—from migration to desindustrialisation, technological backwardness and, now, the Ukraine disaster—shows a system wholly ill-equipped for the demands of a multipolar world. National negotiations would not weaken Europe—they would strengthen it by silencing the Commission. This would create a mosaic of agreements, forcing the U.S. to contend with multiple, agile partners. This is the decentralised approach that best mirrors Europe’s historical genius, from the Hanseatic League to the Renaissance city-states, where sovereignty and competition have always bred prosperity.
Meloni’s tariff talks are a clarion call for Europe to awaken. Italy’s gamble could secure economic lifelines and prove that nations, not bureaucracies, hold the keys to prosperity. As Trump’s trade war reshapes the global order, European countries must seize this moment to reclaim their sovereignty, negotiate their own paths, and cast off Brussels’ chains. Meloni, standing firm in the Oval Office, has shown the way. Let Europe’s nations follow, not as vassals of von der Leyen’s fading dream, but as free peoples forging their own destinies.
