The green light from Brussels for the ITA-Lufthansa operation could arrive by 3 July. The German aviation group will purchase 41% of the national carrier ITA Airways for 350 million euros. The obstacles that pushed the European Commission to take over a year to carefully evaluate the details of the agreement between Lufthansa and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance have therefore been overcome.

Meanwhile, the closing of the operation highlights the question of the political weight that countries have within the institutions of the European Union. As if to say that "in Europe it is important to have the right commissioners", as on reand in the Italian newspaper "La Verità". Yes, because the agreement between the Ministry of Economy, led by Giancarlo Giorgetti, and the German Group, headed by CEO Carsten Spohr, was signed in May 2023, and therefore it took 14 months to get the go-ahead free.

Why all this time? First of all because with the ITA-Lufthansa marriage, France, through the Air France-KLM Group, loses market share in Italy. However, it would probably have taken much longer if Lufthansa had not been involved in the privatization of ITA, considering that Germany will almost certainly obtain the confirmation of the German Ursula Von der Leyen as head of the European Commission. In short, despite the wall erected by the Meloni Government upon his nomination, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spohr play a very important role within the EU and this, even indirectly,benefited Italy and therefore ITA

On the same topic, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.