Reforms, Consulta, migrants and justice. The 2025 dossiers

From the Milleproroghe to the new decree on sending weapons to Ukraine. But also the reforms, with the separation of the careers of magistrates, the Autonomy issue and the resumption of the process on the premiership. And then the migrant issue and the stalemate over the election of four judges of the Constitutional Court and the nomination of Simona Agnes as RAI president, up to the internal fibrillations within the majority, to be resolved, over the possible changes to the security bill. The menu on the table of Parliament and government is rich when work resumes after the Christmas holidays: the Chamber and Senate will reopen their doors on 7 and 8 January with the ratification of international agreements.

– THE DECREES: There are several decrees to be converted into law between January and February. The Senate will be busy with the Milleproroghe decree, which contains the controversial provision on stop fines for anti-vaxers: measure against which the opposition attacked but which also created some discontent within the centre-right, with around ten MPs from Forza Italia who during the examination of the maneuver voted in favour, in contrast with the rest of the coalition, of a agenda of the Democratic Party against the cancellation of fines. The process of the new Ukraine decree will also start from the Senate, approved by the Council of Ministers on 23 December and which extends the authorization for the transfer of military vehicles, materials and equipment to the Kiev government authorities. The Senate will also be busy with the Justice decree, passed by the government at the end of November and from which the rules on strengthening the powers of the national anti-mafia prosecutor’s office on crimes in cybersecurity matters and the introduction of a disciplinary offense for magistrates. Among the new features is the strengthening of the tools to protect victims of gender violence and persecutory acts. The Chamber, however, will have to examine the ‘Emergency-Pnrr’ decree. The provision also includes regulations on the Sicilian water crisis and the expansion of the ‘Caivano model’ to seven other degraded areas. The process of the Culture decree will start from Montecitorio, which includes among other things the so-called ‘Olivetti plan’ for the suburbs (but not the criticized rule on the Ales company).

RAI, CONSULTATION AND AUTONOMY: there are three nodes that intersect and the stalemate that occurs on one of the dossiers inevitably has repercussions on the others. In fact, black smoke follows one another both inside and outside Rai supervision for the green light for the nomination of Agnes as president of the state TV and in Parliament for the election of four judges of the Constitutional Court. Consulta who will have to decide in January on the admissibility or otherwise of the referendum on Differentiated Autonomy (as well as on the Jobs Act and citizenship). So far, six Supervisory sessions have failed: the majority has given up, waiting to understand how to find the missing votes for the approval of the appointment of Simona Agnes, but the possibility of Iv’s rescue is receding and M5s has reiterated the not his. For the moment, therefore, the necessary numbers are still far away. Agreement on the method was instead reached for the Council, but the impasse is on the names. The agreement provides that two judges will be assigned to the centre-right (FdI and FI), one to the opposition (Pd) and finally a ‘technician’, to be identified together. To date, the date of the new convocation of Parliament in joint session is still missing. So much so that in the corridors of the buildings people are starting to believe that it will be a ‘reduced ranks’ Constitutional Court that will express its opinion on the referendums. However, the stalemate also has repercussions on Autonomy: after the pronouncement of the Council, which ‘rejected’ some parts of the reform, the majority and government are evaluating what to do.

The League is pushing to proceed with negotiations with the Regions, while FI and FdI are pushing to bring the reform back to Parliament. If this path were chosen, the burden of redressing the controversial parties would fall to the Chamber.

– THE REFORMS: “2025 will be the year of reforms that scare many”, announced Prime Minister Meloni as she closed the Atreju party. And the Montecitorio Chamber will start again from separation of magistrates’ careerswith the vote on the preliminary questions presented by the opposition, after the general discussion took place in December. The objective of the government and the majority remains to proceed quickly towards the first green light which, it is intended, should arrive at the end of the month. The center-right can count on yes votes from Iv and Azione, but it will happen difficult to avoid the referendum, which for the government could take place in 2026. As for premieredafter being put on standby in the Chamber, the process should restart in the commission in January, but no very fast times are envisaged. Then, for 2025, there is also the justice ‘package’: wiretaps, prescription and precautionary custody. The reform of the statute of limitations is pending in the Senate and could resume the process this winter, while all is silent on precautionary custody at the moment, after the announcement of changes made by Minister Nordio this summer which, however, also encountered doubts within the coalition of government.

MIGRANTS AND ALBANIA PROTOCOL: The migrant centers in Albania “will work, even if I have to spend there every night between now and the end of the Italian government”, assured the Prime Minister, again from the Atreju stage. And last December 23 he chaired a summit at Palazzo Chigi in which he reiterated his “firm intention to continue working, together with EU partners, on so-called ‘innovative solutions'”. That is, the Albania protocol, until now it has remained a dead letter following the decisions of various courts which have not validated the detention of migrants. However, the recent ruling of the Supreme Court has given new life to the government and the majority (“it is up to the government to establish safe countries”, rejoice from the centre-right) and now the ruling of the European Court of Justice is awaited (the hearing is set for 25 February ). However, the intention of the Prime Minister and the entire government remains firm not to back down on Albania.

– SAFETY DDL: impasse in the Senate on the measure dear to the League. The bill is in commission, but the examination has been ‘frozen’ while waiting to find a consensus within the government coalition on some changes to be made to the text, in particular the rules on the sale of telephone cards to foreigners only if in possession of a regular permit and the end to the mandatory deferral of prison sentences for detained mothers. Points on which there would have been an informal discussion with the Quirinale.

“No one intends to distort the contents of the text, but some things need to be explored further”, explained Minister Ciriani after an ad hoc meeting. Changes that the Northern League opposes. The exam is not expected to resume until mid-January.