how Parliament changes and which regions have fewer MEPs

The reduction of parliamentarians is a reality, or rather it will be from the next elections: with the victory of Yes in the referendum Constitutional (69.64% of the votes, the Does not stop at 30.36%) changes the face of the Chambers. There will be 345 fewer MPs, 230 in the House and 115 in the Senate.

The final approval of the constitutional reform took place in October 2019, with the approval of the Chamber. With the birth of the Pd-M5 government, it was also supported for the first time by the dem, Leu and Italia Viva, despite the fact that in the three previous votes they had voted against. The opposition forces, Forza Italia, Fratelli d’Italia and Lega also voted in favor. The clear victory of Yes in the referendum confirms this reform. And now it will take about two months to redesign the universities.

The reduction of parliamentarians – orders the reform – it comes into force as of the date of the first dissolution or the first cessation of the Chambers after the date of entry into force of the constitutional law and, in any case, not before sixty days have elapsed . The provision of the sixty-day period is intended to “allow the approval of the legislative decree for the redetermination of electoral colleges”, which are currently divided as follows: for the Chamber of Deputies there are 232 single-member and 63 multi-member districts; 116 single-member and 33 multi-member colleges for the Senate.

How the relationship between citizens and representatives in Parliament changes

Italy falls from first to fifth place in Europe in number of parliamentarians, after the United Kingdom (1,430 representatives), France (925), Germany (778) and Spain (616). But how does the relationship between citizens and their representatives in Parliament change? HE senators They go from the current 315 to a total of 200. The number of those elected abroad is also changed, from 6 to 4. The average number of inhabitants for each senator grows, in turn, from 188,424 to 302,420. Until now, the Charter established that “no Region can have less than seven senators; Molise has two; Valle d’Aosta one”.

The reform identifies a minimum number of three senators per Region or Autonomous Province, leaving unchanged the current provision of Article 57, third paragraph of the Constitution, relating to the representatives of Molise (2 senators) and Valle d’Aosta (1 senator). However, for the first time, a minimum number of senatorial seats is foreseen for the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano. The reform also modifies article 59 of the Constitution, expressly establishing that the maximum number of senators for life cannot exceed 5.

And in the Chamber? HE deputies In total, now 630, there will be 400. Even those elected abroad have been cut, from the current 12 to a future maximum of 8. After the constitutional reform, the average number of inhabitants for each elected parliamentarian also changes. For the Chamber of Deputies, this ratio increases from 96,006 to 151,210. The distribution of seats among the constituencies, without prejudice to the number of seats assigned to the foreign constituency, is carried out by dividing the number of inhabitants of the Republic, resulting from the last general population census, by 392 and distributing the seats in proportion to the population of each constituency, based on integer ratios and the highest residuals.

Political representation: small and medium regions penalized

Then there is the question of the political representation of the regions. Several constitutionalists have spoken of a distortion of representation with the reduction of parliamentarians. And in fact, it is mainly the medium-small regions that are penalized. The most marked cut, in the Senate (-57.1%), refers to the representatives of Basilicata and Umbria, who fell from seven to three. Considerable reduction also for the senators of Abruzzo and Friuli Venezia Giulia (-42.9%): in both regions they go from 7 to 4. In the Chamber, however, two electoral districts of Sicily and Lazio lose 40% of the deputies .

A corrective will be needed for this: The House Constitutional Affairs Committee is examining an amendment to the Charter that abolished the regional basis for Senate elections.