Veneto Becomes First Italian Region to Approve Autonomy Agreements with Government

Veneto has become the first of Italy’s four regions involved in the autonomy process to approve its agreements with the national government. The regional council passed four proposed arrangements covering civil protection, professions, supplementary pensions, and health protection with public-finance coordination.

The vote produced 33 supporters, three opponents and two abstentions. Nine members, all from the Democratic Party, did not participate as a sign of opposition. The result largely restored the governing coalition’s usual alignment after a bipartisan vote on assisted dying had exposed divisions, particularly involving Brothers of Italy and, to a lesser extent, Forza Italia.

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given birth to a people

For the League, the autonomy vote carried strong symbolic weight. Council member Barbisan thanked Luca Zaia for the referendum he said had “given birth to a people,” and praised Alberto Stefani for fighting the framework law in Rome. Brothers of Italy presented the reform as a coalition priority and argued that its progress depended on the Meloni government. Forza Italia also backed the measure.

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second-rate powers

The opposition rejected the agreements, although its members differed over how to vote. Democratic Party leader Giovanni Manildo said the council had been offered a package of “second-rate powers” with no fiscal autonomy and a regional legislature diminished in its role. Avs opposed the measure without ambiguity, while some other opposition members abstained or declined to vote.

Two votes came from outside the governing majority. Riccardo Szumski and Davide Lovat of Resistere Veneto supported the measure, repeating the idea that “better something than nothing.” Their votes prompted speculation within the council about a possible approach toward the majority.

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better something than nothing