The Lombardy model of autonomy: from the "audacious" innovations of the Statute of 2008 to the challenges regional elections of march 2009 in the land of Bossi and Berlusconi

The Regional Council of Lombardy, after a long and difficult process, approved a new Statute that takes into consideration the new tasks assigned to the regional governments by the constitutional reforms approved in the last years. The new Statute of Autonomy was born in a period of strong popular tension – widespread in Lombardy as well as in many other parts of the country – towards a federalist reform of the national institutional asset. The richest region of the country is particularly interested in this reform. The Northern league political movement, led by Umberto Bossi, was significantly born in this area. The movement has now become a major political force at the national level. The Statute, therefore, was written in order to obtain from the national government larger competences, within the wider perspective of the “differentiated federalism”. This form of federalism attributes to the regional governments resources and tasks in a wide array of public administration sectors. With the implementation of the “differentiated federalism”, especially according to the auspices of the Northern League, the direct relationships between Lombardy and the European Union, between Lombardy and the other Italian regions (especially the nearest and richest ones such as Piedmont, Veneto, Liguria and Emilia-Romagna), and finally between Lombardy and the trans-border cooperation communities (such as the Regio Insubrica) should acquire a growing importance. Another qualifying element for both the Statute and the future regional policies of Lombardy is the more and more active role given to the local autonomies (provinces and municipalities), to the local institutions (Chambers of Commerce, Universities, scholastic institutions granted with autonomy) and the social networks, which in Lombardy can boast an important and long tradition in promoting the development of the territory, of the economy and of the society at large. The implementation of the Statute will start after the important electoral turn that will take place in Spring 2009. In this turn nearly all the Italian regional governments will renew their political assemblies, with the exception of a few cases where the local councils have been renovated before the end of the “natural” length of the legislation. During the last months the Northern League – after the electoral successes in the political elections of 2008 and in the European elections of 2009 – wants to emphasize the differences between the Northern part of the country and the rest of Italy. In doing so, the League aims at obtaining the presidency of the three most important regions of the “Padania” (the river Po valley region): Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto, overcoming the candidates of the allied Berlusconi’s party, which is, at the moment, stronger in the Northern electorate. The strong turbulences suffered by the political situation after the sentence of the Constitutional High Court of October 7, 2009 – highly negative for the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi – probably will not bring to new elections, but will nevertheless project their effects both in the electoral programs and in the future key matters related to the Lombardy region.