RECENT CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
In 1999 and 2001, two constitutional amendments were approved considerably increasing the powers and the political profile of the ordinary regions. The first reform introduced the direct election of the regional president in order to enhance political stability in the ordinary regions.
It also strengthened their constitutional autonomy, since basic regional laws were now adopted by the ordinary regions themselves in a special procedure that resembled that for amending the national Constitution (double approval, qualified majority, and possible referendum).4 The reform of 2001 completely reshaped the constitutional provisions concerning the relations between the national government and the regions, often according to previous jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court. Although the autonomous regions were not directly affected by the reform, because of their “special” constitutional status, a preferential clause guaranteed them all benefits, i.e., “more favorable” features compared to their current powers and status.5The reform affirms the equality of all component units of the “republic” (the central state, the regions, provinces, and municipalities).6 Sounding unfamiliar for a federal system, the reform reflects the concept of functional spheres rather than hierarchical levels of government. The “two-track asymmetry” – ordinary and autonomous regions – is confirmed, but individual ordinary regions may ask to have additional powers transferred to them by national legislation in areas such as culture, local security, and the environment (article 116.3).7 Most importantly, the reform drastically changes the distribution of legislative and administrative powers between Rome and the regions: the Constitution (article 117) now lists all legislative powers of the national government, as well as the fields of concurrent legislation (i.e., those in which regions can legislate only within the framework of general guidelines determined by a national law). In contrast to the previous situation, the residual powers lie with the regions, according to classic federal schemes. Administrative powers are no longer connected with legislative ones but distributed in a flexible manner according to the criteria of “subsidiarity, differentiation and proportionality” (article 118). The new provision on fiscal federalism grants partial financial autonomy to sub-national entities (article 119), and all regions have to establish a consultative body for the representation of local authorities within their territory (article 123). The elimination of preventive control over regional legislation (before the reform, all regional laws had to be approved by the government in Rome before entering into force) confirms the equal rank of regional and national legislation.