She has been defined pragmatic and cunning, capable but also populist.

At the same time, almost unexpectedly, she showed steadfast stewardship in the international affairs especially in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Italian Prime Minister Meloni sought a cooperative stance with the European Union, something that, in reality, many had already and, correctly, predicted as inevitable as Italy is the biggest recipient of the EU post pandemic recovery funds.

Yet she proved staunchly conservative on social issues.

Multiple times, her demagogic credentials were confirmed, for example, during the recent campaign in Spain where she had released a brief video intervention to support VOX, the far-right party or when, last week, she spoke at conference convened by the Hungarian Government on demography.

Plenty of commentaries and opinion pieces have been written about what I call the “Meloni Dichotomy”, her double-edged approach to politics.

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But rather than getting over fixated over the different variety of Ms. Meloni’s social policies or her adherence to democratic values, a much more interesting question would be asking her to define her vision for Europe.

Her time in the government might have surely help her develop a more nuanced view of the continent.

The fact is the most intricate problems faced by the member states of the European Union cannot be tackled with without a common and unitary approach.

While sitting in the opposition and climbing on the polls with her mass appealing, radical rhetoric, the Italian Prime Minister conveniently pretended not to know it.

Now it is impossible for her to deny or downplay how intricately intertwingled European and national politics go by the day.

As the leader not only of her party but also of the European Conservatives and Reformists, ECR, her key proposal has been the promotion a Europe of the nations and a European project based on the fatherlands.

Such extremely vague concepts were wrapped together by Ms. Meloni and her conservative peers under the generic idea of a establishing a European Confederation.

Now it is high time that Prime Minister Meloni came up with a concrete proposal on what such entity would mean in practice.

The ongoing migrant crisis unfolding in Lampedusa is pushing Ms. Meloni at emphasizing that only a “European solution” can stem the flow of migrants in search of a better life in the old continent.

The reality is that not only Lampedusa or Italy that have reached capacity in processing the new arrivals but it is the whole EU under stress, it is truly a continent-wide issue affecting the whole European Union.

As a shrewd politician, PM Meloni might have ended up convincing herself that other “European solutions” are needed to deal with the common challenges faced by Europe.

How such plans reconcile with her idea of a confederation?

Spelling out with a concrete proposal what her European Confederation means in practice can define Ms. Meloni’s future prospective of reshaping the continent.

The reality is that, on many levels, the EU is already a de facto confederation of nations.

Yet, only a wholly united common foreign and defense policy, together with other key reforms of the Treaty and there are plenty of them in need, would make the existing Union a true confederation and an institution better fit to serve its people.

Only a considerable amount of sovereign power transferred to a much more powerful central government in Brussels can make this happen.

How does the Italian Prime Minister’s vision of an European confederation offer be the best answer to the multiple challenges faced by the EU?

In her party’s manifesto last year, a much more moderated and less radical document than what presented for the latest European elections in 2019, there was a proposal of “relaunching the process of European integration, centered on the interests of the citizens and capable of facing the challenges of our times”.

How can this type of generic and void of details statements safeguard and protect the needs and aspirations of the European citizens?

With the pressure coming from the East and with a number of nations pressing to join the EU, a tacit inevitability is emerging about the fact that any meaningful enlargement can only happen with a meaningful reform of the Treaty.

From doing away with the unanimity in the decision making, to the direct election of the President of the European Commission to more legislative power to the Parliament to a real and meaningful integration of foreign and defense policies to a new governance based on multi speeds Europe, there is plenty of issues that need a fix.

We need now Prime Minister Meloni to spell out her own idea of Europe especially as we are approaching the European Elections next year.

Will her confederation, mean a regression of the process of integration, as many fear, with many powers now managed in Brussels being repatriated or a really a smart way of doing less but better?

If it is the latter, in which areas Ms. Meloni imagines that the EU can do better? How?

For example, how core national competencies like defense and foreign policies can be really centralized?

What does the proposal about creating a European column of NATO mean in practice as stated on her party’s manifesto last year?

How to carry out a proposal of this nature that would align her to a position fairly close to what promoted by President Macron of France so far, an ideological rival of Ms. Meloni and with whom she has often clashed with?

Should the EU return back to decisions of the Helsinki European Council in December 1999?

Then the member states pledged to “be able, by 2003, to deploy within 60 days and sustain for at least 1 year military forces of up to 50,000-60,000”.

Is PM Meloni ready to back the Helsinki Conclusions or, instead, is willing to stick by the current and rather un-ambitious plan of setting up a so-called Rapid Deployment Capacity of 5000 troops by 2025?

Does Ms. Meloni back the recent proposal of a group of Franco-German experts of a EU at four speeds?

In matter of intra-Europe law enforcement, will she back a further expansion of the power of Europol, making it a real police force?

What about granting more powers and resources to Frontex, the border agency of the EU that is basically unable to fully accomplish its core function of protecting the European borders because of its limited mandate in support of the national authorities?

Which competences will be returned to the capitals? Which ones will be, instead, fully entrusted to a central confederal authority based in Brussels?

Her policies on social and moral issues are, by now, well known.

It cannot be said the same for her plans for Europe.

What we need now is for PM Meloni to address the Europeans and explain why her Confederation of Nations is the bes to protect and strengthen the continent.

Ms. Meloni, fully aware of the complexities of the global challenges faced by her country and by the whole continent, must now present a coherent and detailed plan on how to do so.

Moreover, how her idea of confederation differs, in concrete terms, from the federal stance embraced by her progressive rivals?

There is no better place for PM Meloni to disclose what a Europe fit for XXI century will look like than the EU Parliament.

The sooner Meloni will clarify her stance with a through proposal on the future of Europe, the more she will have the opportunity to shape, on her terms, the debate on the future of the EU.

The author writes on Asia Pacific affairs with a special focus on Nepal and South East Asia.

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