During theKingdom of Italy, regions were mere statistical districts of the central state. Under the Republic, they were granted a measure of political autonomy by the 1948Italian Constitution. The original draft list comprised theSalento region (which was eventually included inApulia);Friuli andVenezia Giulia were separate regions, andBasilicata was namedLucania.Abruzzo andMolise were identified as separate regions in the first draft, but were later merged intoAbruzzi e Molise in the final constitution of 1948, before being separated in 1963.
Regions acquired a significant level of autonomy following a constitutional reform in 2001 (brought about by a centre-left government and confirmed by popular referendum), which granted them residual policy competence. A furtherfederalist reform was proposed by the regionalist partyLega Nord and in 2005, the centre-right government led bySilvio Berlusconi proposed a new reform that would have greatly increased the power of regions.[2]
The proposals, which had been particularly associated withLega Nord, and seen by some as leading the way to a federal state, were rejected in the2006 Italian constitutional referendum by 61.7% "no" to 38.3% "yes".[2] The results varied considerably among the regions, ranging from 55.3% in favour inVeneto to 82% against inCalabria.[2]
The 5 autonomous regions in red and the 15 ordinary regions in gray
Every region has a statute that serves as a regional constitution, determining the form of government and the fundamental principles of the organization and the functioning of the region, as prescribed by theConstitution of Italy (Article 123). Although all the regions except Tuscany define themselves in various ways as an "autonomous Region" in the first article of their Statutes,[7] fifteen regions have ordinary statutes and five have special statutes, granting them extended autonomy.
These regions, whose statutes are approved by their regional councils, were created in 1970, even though the Italian Constitution dates back to 1948. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they have had residual legislative powers:the regions have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly reserved to state law (Article 117).[8] Yet their financial autonomy is quite modest: they keep just 20% of all levied taxes, mostly used to finance theregion-based healthcare system.[9]
Article 116 of theItalian Constitution grantshome rule to five regions: theAosta Valley,Friuli-Venezia Giulia,Sardinia,Sicily, andTrentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, allowing them some legislative, administrative and financial power to a varying extent, depending on their specific statute. These regions became autonomous in order to take into account cultural differences and protect linguistic minorities. Moreover, the government wanted to prevent them from potentially seceding or being taken away from Italy after its defeat inWorld War II.[10]
Each region has an elected parliament, calledConsiglio Regionale (regional council), orAssemblea Regionale (regional assembly) in Sicily, and a government calledGiunta Regionale (regional committee), headed by a governor calledPresidente della Giunta Regionale (president of the regional committee) orPresidente della Regione (regional president). The latter is directly elected by the citizens of each region, with the exceptions of Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol regions where the president is chosen by the regional council.
Under the 1995 electoral law, the winning coalition receives an absolute majority of seats on the council. The president chairs thegiunta, and nominates or dismisses its members, calledassessori. If the directly elected president resigns, new elections are called immediately.
In the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, the regional council is made up of the joint session of the two provincial councils of Trentino and of South Tyrol. The regional president is one of the two provincial commissioners.
Number of senators assigned to each Region before 2020
Article 57 of the Constitution of Italy originally established that theSenate of the Republic was to be elected on a regional basis by Italian citizens aged 25 or older (unlike theChamber of the Deputies, which was elected on a national basis and by all Italian citizens aged 18 or older). No region could have less than 7 senators, except for the two smallest regions: Aosta Valley (1 senator) and Molise (2 senators). From 2006 to 2020, 6 out of 315 senators (and 12 out of 630 deputies) were elected byItalians residing abroad.
After two constitutional amendments were passed respectively in 2020 (byconstitutional referendum) and 2021, however, there have been changes. The Senate is still elected on a regional basis, but the number of senators was reduced from 315 to 200, who are now elected by all citizens aged 18 or older, just like deputies (themselves being reduced from 630 to 400). Italians residing abroad now elect 4 senators (and 8 deputies).
The remaining 196 senators are assigned to each region proportionally according to their population. The amended Article 57 of the Constitution provides that no region can have fewer than 3 senators representing it, barring Aosta Valley and Molise, which retained 1 and 2 senators respectively.
^Hiroko Kudo, "Autonomy and Managerial Innovation in Italian Regions after Constitutional Reform", Chuo University, Faculty of Law and Graduate School of Public Policy (2008): p. 1. Retrieved on 6 April 2012 fromhttp://www.med-eu.org/proceedings/MED1/Kudo.pdfArchived 17 November 2015 at theWayback Machine.
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