Autonomy: first ‘yes’ in the Senate – but there is still a long way to go

The implementation of ‘differentiated autonomy’ has received initial approval in the Senate chamber. The Senate has approved the resolutions on the preliminary agreements with Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Liguria. But this is merely a small appetiser. And as for when it will actually be served, the uncertainties outweigh the certainties: all the more so now that the turmoil surrounding the electoral law in the Chamber of Deputies has significantly increased the likelihood of an early end to the parliamentary term, by April 2027 at the latest. But with elections in April, autonomy cannot be approved, as Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti confirmed two weeks ago; a Northern League member with a northern focus, he has been passionate about the issue for decades.

The Senate has taken the first step. The resolutions approved reportedly concern the preliminary agreements with the four centre-right-led northern regions that have decided to press ahead within the (perhaps) limited scope permitted by Constitutional Court ruling 192/2024, which found seven constitutional violations in the first framework law, Law No. 86 of 2024, and imposing a corrective measure that has been languishing for almost a year in committee, also in the Senate.
The preliminary agreements concern matters which, at least in the view of the Government and the majority, do not require the definition of essential service levels (LEP) prior to the transfer of powers to the regions that request them. The ‘negotiations’ have therefore come to include civil protection – though only for interventions at regional level, as specified in recent days during a hearing by Minister Nello Musumeci – the professions (excluding those regulated by professional bodies and the healthcare professions), supplementary pensions, and healthcare. The latter is already largely a regional responsibility, but differentiated autonomy promises to transfer additional functions relating to tariffs, the management of national investment funds and supplementary resources for staff, to be borne by the region.

Having outlined the bare essentials of the content, we must now turn our attention to the legislative process, which is the key factor in assessing the actual prospects of these agreements becoming a reality. Following parliamentary approval of the resolutions (in the Chamber of Deputies, the dossier is currently before the Constitutional Affairs Committee), the final text of the preliminary agreements goes to the Council of Ministers for approval. After that, their content must be incorporated into a bill, which must be approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate by an absolute majority of their members: if Parliament approves amendments, in accordance with the power established by Constitutional Court ruling 192/2024, a new agreement with the Region is required before final approval.

As one might expect, the road ahead is a long one, and it may well be made more difficult by a parliamentary climate that, in this final stretch of the parliamentary term, does not appear to be the best. The significance of this first parliamentary stage is therefore entirely political, against a backdrop of reforms that are still largely to be completed. For the Minister for Regional Affairs, Roberto Calderoli, the architect of the operation, “the objections raised against autonomy” stem “solely from ideological prejudice”. The opposition parties promise they will do everything in their power to “stop the break-up of Italia”, as proclaimed on placards regularly brandished in the Senate chamber. And the debate is set to continue for some time yet.