NO to revised Italian Constitution
EPSU SOLIDARITY MESSAGE TO ITALIAN AFFILIATES
EPSU wishes to express its solidarity towards Italian affiliates in their no campaign on the changes to Italy’s Constitution put forward by former Berlusconi-led government.
On Sunday and Monday 25-26 June, a referendum will take place to confirm or not the following main changes to the Constitution:
- Presidentialism, in the figure of a Prime Minister who will enjoy larger powers
- Reinforced federalism based on unequal subsidiarity
Italian trade unions fear that both changes will result in damage and restrictions to parliament, the freedom and equality of all citizens, the autonomy of the judiciary and fair distribution of the country’s wealth. These reforms could further exacerbate the risk of inequalities between rich and poor areas and deepen chronic under-funding of public services.
As part of its ongoing European Trace project on decentralisation, EPSU has collected a number of case studies on current government reforms. They vividly illustrate the need to underpin decentralisation reforms by strong solidarity and cooperation principles across the EU. A good system of government is one that enables fair redistribution of resources between regions, improves quality of and access to public services and increases freedoms of citizens including workers’ trade union rights.
These are all but missing elements in Italy’s revised constitution.
We wish you a successful campaign against this unacceptable system of government in Italy
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