Her response to the agreement came as she reported to the Lower House before this week’s EU summit.

Under the reported deal, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of the EPP will keep her position.

Former Portuguese socialist prime minister Antonio Costa will become European Council president and Estonian PM Kaja Kallas, a liberal, will become the new EU high representative for foreign affairs.

“The mistake that is about to be made … is a major mistake, not for the centre-right or for Italy, but for a Europe that does not seem to understand the challenge it faces,” said Meloni.

“Or, if it does understand, it prefers to prioritise other things.”

Meloni is the chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, which her right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party belongs to.

“If we want to do good service to Europe and its credibility, we must show that we have understood the errors of the past,” she continued.

“[We must] have the utmost consideration for the directions of the citizens, who are asking for a more concrete, less ideological Europe.”

The deal was reportedly reached in a video conference of six national leaders representing the three groups.

Involved was Poland’s Donald Tusk and Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the EPP, Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Spain’s Pedro Sanchez for the socialists and France’s Emmanuel Macron and the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte for the liberals.

Meloni blasted such ‘fireplace’ agreements made among a small group of leaders, especially given how poorly the parties of those figures did in the European elections.

“If there is one indisputable thing that comes from the ballot box, it is the rejection of the policies pursued by the political parties in government in many of the large European nations,” she said.

“In many cases, these are also the parties that have dictated the European policies of recent years.”

“The governing parties got 16 per cent in France, 32 per cent in Germany, 34 per cent in Spain.

“Only in Italy are 53 per cent of those elected representatives of government parties.”

Deputy Prime Minister, Transport Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini on Wednesday blasted the reported deal.

“The arrogance of the European bureaucrats, who are now dividing up their seats even though the people’s votes rejected the policies of this commission, is shameful,” Salvini said.

“The shady deal between the EPP and the Socialists cannot be the future.

“It’s an insult to Italy, to the French, who will vote soon, and to the Europeans who have asked for change.

“Despite these position-dealers, the League is working for a viable, necessary alternative that puts work, security and families back in the centre, not the positions that von der Leyen and her associates are dividing up.”

ANSA