After eight months of campaigning here is finally the referendum on the constitutional reform. Sunday, December 4, 46.714.950 voters will be called to decide whether to change the Constitution or leave everything as it is.
A choice that will substantially determine the political and institutional future of the country. The battle between the Yes and No fronts has reached very heated tones, on some occasions going beyond the limits of decency without clarifying to citizens what the real scope of the changes is or how much they will affect the country's structure.
A few hours after the vote, we therefore offer you a brief overview of the most important changes that the Constitution will undergo in the event of a victory for the Yes vote.
Constitutional referendum: goodbye to equal bicameralism
In the event that Yes wins on 4 December, Italy will no longer be characterized by equal bicameralism, the system according to which the two Houses of Parliament possess the same powers and the same functions. Overcoming the aforementioned bicameralism represents one of the cornerstones of the reform and is established by the new article 70 of the Constitution according to which the Chamber of Deputies will deal with 95% of the laws and give confidence to the Government, while the functions of the Senate will be drastically reduced .
Despite this, there will be some areas in which the two Chambers will continue to have the same say:
– the laws revising the Constitution and on other constitutional laws,
– the laws “implementing the constitutional provisions concerning the protection of linguistic minorities”,
– popular referendums and all other referendums envisaged by the article,
– the laws concerning the functions and institutions of Municipalities and Metropolitan Cities, the laws which determine the relations between Italy and the European Union,
– the laws of ratification of international treaties,
– the laws that have to do with the functioning of the Regions.
For all other laws, however, the Chamber will decide. In the event that the members of Palazzo Madama wish to intervene, they will have to present a request which must be received within 10 days of the approval of the provision in the Chamber. There will then be 30 days to examine the law and propose non-binding changes to be made to the text.
Constitutional referendum: the new Senate
The Senate of the Republic will be transformed into the Senate of the Regions, an institutional body made up of representatives of regional and local autonomies. The number of senators will be substantially reduced, going from the current 315 to 100 representatives.
Going into detail, 74 regional councilors and 21 mayors will sit in Palazzo Madama, to which will be added 5 life senators appointed by the President of the Republic. It will be up to a law to be adopted after the reform to establish the details of the election. As conceived by the reform, the Senate will have the fundamental function of acting as a link between the State, the Regions and the Municipalities.
Senators will no longer receive the allowance from parliamentarians, but will maintain the immunity guaranteed by the Constitution.
Referendum: how Title V changes
The constitutional reform of the Renzi government provides for the revision of Title V, the part of the Constitution that regulates relations between the State and the Regions.
The reform was conceived with the aim of remedying the distortions created by the 2001 law which, in addition to causing a substantial increase in costs for the State, has produced an enormous amount of conflicts of attribution before the Constitutional Court. For this reason, in the event of a Yes victory, the Regions with ordinary statute (those with special statute will not be involved in the changes) will lose part of their autonomy on some matters, which will return to the competence of the State. These include: environment, energy, national energy production, transport and distribution; insurance, civil protection, scientific and technological research; protection, safety and active labor policies, complementary and supplementary social security; exports, sports regulation, professions and communication; strategic infrastructures and large transport and navigation networks of national interest; civil ports and airports of national and international interest.
ON subjects such as education, health protection, tourism, cultural assets and activities, etc. the State will set the general provisions, while the Regions will have to deal with legislative competence. Finally, the Boschi law establishes that it is the State to deal with matters of exclusive regional competence if they concern the interest of the nation.
But the revision of Title V will also contain the now famous farewell to the Provinces, which will disappear from the Constitution (with the exception of Trento and Bolzano). Their place will be taken by the Metropolitan Cities.
From a financial point of view, the reimbursements to groups present in the regional councils are cancelled, while the indemnity of the councilors cannot exceed that paid to the Mayor of the Capital Municipality of the Region.
Referendum: the abolition of the CNEL
One of the immediate effects of the reform will be the abolition of the National Council of Economy and Labour, an auxiliary body, established by the current article 99 of the Constitution, established in 57 and regulated by a 1986 law.
The body has advisory functions in relation to economic and labor laws, has legislative initiatives and can contribute to economic and social laws. In its history it has produced 14 bills, all ignored by the Government and Parliament. Given its low impact, the Cnel is considered by both sides to be useless and expensive. In case of victory of the Yes, the art. 99 will be canceled from the Constitutional Charter.
Referendum: the election of the President of the Republic
The reform also affects the methods of electing the President of the Republic. With the new Constitution, the Head of State will be elected by the two Houses meeting in joint session, but the 58 delegates of the Regions who until now have participated in the election will no longer be allowed to vote.
The text also provides that, during the first three ballots, in order to elect the President of the Republic it is necessary to reach a majority of two thirds of the members of the Chamber and Senate. From the fourth to the sixth ballot, the quorum is set at the majority of three fifths of those entitled (today it is an absolute majority), from the seventh ballot onwards the vote of three fifths of the parliamentarians present in the chamber will suffice. The second office in the state will no longer be the President of the Senate, but that of the Chamber.
Referendum and popular initiative laws
Change the quorum required to pass a law subjected to a repeal referendum. Currently, for a law to be repealed, a quorum of 50% plus one of those entitled to vote must be reached. With the reform, if the referendum is proposed by 800 citizens, the quorum is reduced to 50% plus one of the voters in the last general election. The new text also provides for the introduction into our legal system of the propositional referendum and the address referendum, the functioning of which will be established by laws following the reform.
To propose a popular initiative law, it will be necessary to reach 150 signatures and no longer 50 as today. Unlike what happens now, however, if the various committees manage to reach the necessary number of signatures, the proposals will certainly be examined by Parliament within a predefined period of time.
Referendum: the election of constitutional judges
Today it is the Parliament meeting in joint session that elects 5 of the 15 constitutional judges (the other ten are chosen by the President of the Republic and the Judiciary). If the Yes vote wins on 4 December, the method of electing the Constitutional Court will also change. The reform provides for separate elections for each Chamber: three judges will be elected by Montecitorio, two by Palazzo Madama.
Referendum: the vote on a certain date
On the basis of the provisions of the new article 72 of the Constitution, the Government will have the possibility of asking the Chamber to decide "within five days of the request, that a bill indicated as essential for the implementation of the government program be registered with priority on the agenda.” The aforesaid provision will ensure that the bill is rejected or approved within 70 days of the resolution.
