ROME — Just when it could use some friends in high places, Italy is struggling to find allies in Brussels.

As the country's populist government does battle with the European Commission for breaking EU rules on public spending, its ruling parties are fighting an uphill battle to wield influence in the bloc's capital.

Neither the far-right League nor the anti-establishment 5Star Movement belong to the Continent's major political families, forcing them to try to build up alternative alliances. So far, those efforts have yielded little.

In the meantime, Italy may soon end up without any of the EU's top jobs — a major demotion for the country. Italians currently hold three of the most influential EU posts, with Federica Mogherini as the bloc's foreign policy chief, Antonio Tajani as the president of the European Parliament and Mario Draghi as the president of the European Central Bank.

And the government risks further isolation if it nominates a European commissioner unpalatable to the Brussels mainstream, who could be rejected by the EU or get stuck with a low-power portfolio.

Brussels is unlikely to give Rome influence over economic matters.

None of this has stopped Matteo Salvini, the far-right deputy prime minister, from insisting that Italy will end up with more influence in Brussels, claiming that his nationalist front would indicate the direction of travel on policy matters in the future.

Salvini's League party scored a comfortable victory in the European election, winning 28 seats. But his nationalist alliance in the European Parliament, dubbed Identity and Democracy (ID), is currently stuck at 73 of 751 seats, in fifth place just behind the Greens, and his attempts at bringing all the Parliament's Euroskeptics together in the same group have yet to bear fruit.

Moreover, his upstart nationalist bloc has few friends at high levels in EU institutions, lacking the influence and contacts of more established parliamentary groups.

Friendless 5Stars

The League's coalition partner, the 5Star Movement, is in a similar — or perhaps even worse — position.

Its faction in the European Parliament, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD), currently does not have the numbers to continue as a parliamentary group after losing many of its seats. The 5Stars themselves plummeted to 17 percent in the European election, nearly halving their support from last year's Italian general election.

Italian media report that the 5Stars are close to forming a new alliance with Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, a fellow EFDD member. Farage has been vague about such an alliance, saying "we will see." But he also told the Italian news channel SkyTG24 that he feels "closer" to the 5Stars than to Salvini, "although they are clearly center left."

A spokesperson for the 5Stars in Brussels didn't confirm or deny these reports and said the party is "negotiating on various fronts."

After the election the 5Stars initially kept a low profile, hoping to switch from the Euroskeptic EFDD to a pro-EU group such as the Liberals or the Greens. But neither bloc seems keen on having them.

A Greens official said the 5Stars had approached them, but indicated that the Italians had been rebuffed. The Greens have already welcomed several new members, the official said, adding: "We are extremely selective."

A tie-up of the 5Stars with Renew Europe — a new group bringing together the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), French President Emmanuel Macron's La République En Marche (LREM) and others — seems equally unlikely.

The 5Stars tried to join ALDE back in 2017 but were rebuffed, and the party's relations with Macron — whose En Marche is the largest delegation in Renew Europe — turned sour after its leader Luigi Di Maio visited the leaders of the anti-government Yellow Jackets in Paris last winter.

An En Marche official involved in the parliamentary group formation talks said it is "completely impossible" for the 5Stars to join the new liberal bloc.

Italy's EU wishlist

The League, meanwhile, is focused on the commissioner job. Salvini and Claudio Borghi, a League MP and chair of the lower house's finance committee, have both said that Italy wants an economic portfolio.

According to two government officials in Rome, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council President Donald Tusk that Italy's top choices would be competition or trade.

Brussels is unlikely to give Rome influence over economic matters, however. The EU this month took a step toward launching a disciplinary procedure against Italy over the government's disregard for the bloc's spending rules, and Salvini's pledge to try to change the EU's fiscal rules did not help to instill confidence.

Italians are also concerned about losing influence over policy at the European Central Bank, where it might be left without a board representative after Draghi's departure.

Antonio Zennaro, a 5Stars MP, said: “We could end up without a representative in the ECB’s executive board and this is a loss that we can’t afford as the eurozone’s third-largest economy.”

An Italian official in the center-right European People's Party (EPP) echoed these concerns, saying: “Italy’s position could complicate further if Manfred Weber becomes Commission president and after Draghi goes we lose influence over the European Central Bank’s decisions.” The German position on Italy's public finances isn't exactly sympathetic, he noted, adding that a "Weber Commission wouldn't grant all the flexibility the outgoing one did."

Commissioner options

As for Italy's Commission nominee, three people in Rome and Brussels who are involved in the discussion said that the League's main candidate is Guglielmo Picchi, a foreign ministry undersecretary with close ties to the U.S. Republican Party.

“He has a great international standing, good relations with the EPP, he’s a former member of the Italian parliamentary delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE] and a former Barclays banker [in London],” said one person involved in the talks in Rome.

But the League may end up having to compromise on a technocrat in order to avoid its candidate being rejected in Brussels or getting stuck with a minor portfolio. Two government officials said that Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi and Finance Minister Giovanni Tria could be Rome's Plan B.

Earlier this week, Moavero Milanesi told a TV show he is aware of his name being floated as a commissioner candidate but that he "likes his current job and there will be no certainty on the name before July or August."

“The League’s stubborn approach only risks isolating Italy" — 5Star official in Rome

However, as both Moavero Milanesi and Tria are technocrats, League officials don’t trust them to represent the party's interests. The 5Stars, meanwhile, agreed to let the League take the lead on the commissioner choice, but are now concerned about the outcome.

“The League’s stubborn approach only risks isolating Italy, which is why we must push to join a big pro-EU group and make sure Italy doesn’t lose its relevance in Europe,” said one 5Stars official in Rome.

Zennaro, the 5Stars lawmaker, said the decision about the European Parliament group would ultimately lie in the hands of Deputy Prime Minster Luigi Di Maio and MEPs in Brussels. But he added: “The EU needs to be reformed, including in its organization, and to do so an agreement among all EU partners is necessary, therefore Italy needs to be open to dialogue.”

The toughest dialogue might be within the Italian government, however.

"You might think digesting Picchi's name is hard for EU partners, but I actually think it will be harder pushing it through Cabinet," said one of the three people involved in the discussions in Rome.

Rym Momtaz in Paris and Maïa de La Baume in Brussels contributed reporting.