The Next Target: Amending the Amending Procedure

Abstract

The end of WW1 caused the origin of the “South Tyrolean question” represented by the status of the German speaking population since ever living in the territory that had been annexed to the Kingdom of Italy first and then to the Italian Republic. However, the Paris Peace Treaty included the Degasperi-Gruber Agreement that established an international obligation to safeguard the culture of the language minority and to grant them legislative and administrative autonomy. Initially the obligation was not implemented in conformity to the Agreement. A new round of negotiations eventually led to a new fundamental normative setting of the Provinces of Bolzano/South Tyrol and Trentino within a Region with a marginal role (1972). The method of negotiation has proved historically to carry on a positive outcome and in fact it has been introduced and applied also to the purpose of managing some vital contents of the relationship between the provincial and state authorities. The basic source of the autonomy must be approved by a constitutional act adopted by the national Parliament and no participatory role by the two Provinces is constitutionally safeguarded, although such participation has so far always been acknowledged by practice. But practice is an insufficient safeguard in the current political context that is not favorable to any of the Regions with a special autonomy. The paper suggests an amendment to the present rules concerning the amending procedure that should be the priority before facing the substantive reforms that are much needed for ensuring a good governance of the system.