Mario Draghi is the obvious candidate to be the next president of the European Council. The job involves leading the meetings of EU heads of state and government. And it's wide open since incumbent Charles Michel announced he's quitting. But despite Draghi's notable achievements, including saving the euro and crafting game-changing policies on vaccines and sanctions, "Super Mario" seems unlikely to make the final cut. That's down to the reluctance of EU national leaders to be overshadowed by someone like Draghi who could truly command the world stage, says journalist David Carretta. David has worked with the Italian newspaper Il Foglio and Italian station Radio Radicale for more than two decades, and he's just launched an excellent morning newsletter with colleague Christian Spillman. In this episode, David discusses other runners and riders for the European Council job. He also talks about why the political centre is likely to hold, in one form or other, even if far-right parties make strong gains in the European Parliament elections in June. And then there's the story behind the Acca Laurentia rally in Rome on January 7, the failure of Italy to deal with its past, and how both help to explain the ascent of Giorgia Meloni and her neofascist Brothers of Italy party. Meloni, warns David, could easily revert to being pro-Putin if the war in Ukraine turns in Russia's favour and Donald Trump returns to the White House. Subscribe to David's and Christian's newsletter in Italian or French. 

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