Banking and Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque has repeatedly spoken out in favor of banking consolidation across the bloc.
The competition and financial services teams had their assessment of the case ready shortly after Italy submitted its last round of responses to the Commission in August, said one of the people who spoke to POLITICO. But von der Leyen’s Cabinet, which ultimately has to sign off on a decision, has taken no action so far, they added.
According to Italian media reports, Italy has been trying to buy more time and stave off an infringement procedure by suggesting it could amend its golden power legislation. Financial daily Milano Finanza reported on Tuesday that the Commission has set Nov. 13 for a decision.
An Italian official with knowledge of the file said the Commission could very well be slow-walking action against Italy given that Unicredit’s withdrawal from the deal is by now irreversible. That would allow time to review whether Italy’s golden power is in line with EU competition rules without the pressure of a live deal.
“A medium-term, out-of-the-spotlight agreement on golden power could be the best outcome,” this official explained.
Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported last week that Italy could be willing to amend its golden power to address the Commission’s concerns over how it was used in the Unicredit-BPM case.
All matters pertaining to the golden power are steered from von der Leyen’s office, said another Commission official who is not directly involved in the matter and was also granted anonymity to speak candidly. It is usually quite simple to perform a technical analysis of such files, but “politics always trumps it,” they added.
Spokespeople for Meloni and Italy’s economy ministry declined to comment.