(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 12 - European Commission Executive Vice President-Designate Raffaele Fitto told his confirmation hearing at the European Parliament on Tuesday that he was not representing Italy or his party but Europe as a whole.
    Fitto, who will have the reform and cohesion portfolio if he is confirmed by MEPs, is a leading member of Premier Giorgia Meloni's rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.
    The FdI voted against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen getting a second term after June's EU elections. "Five years ago I was sitting among you," said Fitto, a former MEP who has been Italian minister for European Affairs, the South and Cohesion in the Meloni government.
    "I remember my political journey, from the local to the national level to Brussels.
    "I have always worked for a stronger Europe.
    "It is an honour for me and I am ready to put all my experience at the service of the Commission.
    "It is an honour that my government recommended me.
    "I am not here to represent a political party or a member state, but for my commitment to Europe".
    In his new role, Fitto is set to oversee the EU's post-COVID Recovery Plan, the Next Generation EU programme, and the implementation of the related National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRP) Valentina Palmisano, an MEP for the Italian opposition 5-Star Movement (M5S), asked about FdI's failure to back the programme when it was presented.
    "In relation to our abstention on the Next Generation EU programme, I can say that, at that stage, we had doubts about its implementation," Fitto said.
    "But that was a wait-and-see position, not opposition to it.
    "If I were to vote tomorrow morning, it would be a yes vote".
    (ANSA).