Antonio Tajani is not at the meeting with the Commission of the African Union.

Antonio Tajani, Italy’s European commissioner, is a notable absentee from the European Commission’s delegation to meet the Commission of the African Union today and tomorrow (25-26 April). There are seven commissioners making up the delegation to Addis Ababa, which is headed by Commission President José Manuel Barroso, but Tajani is not among them. It cannot be that his portfolio is not deemed relevant, given his legislative proposals on extractive industries, which could have a massive effect on Africa’s large mining and energy concerns. It is unlikely to be reluctance on the part of an Italian to visit the former Abyssinia. Perhaps it is just that Italian politics is too exciting to miss at the moment. Tajani is spending the next few days in Italy, culminating this Sunday in a meeting with journalists in Perugia. Unmissable.