Constitutional Identity in Italy: Institutional Disagreements at a Time of Political Change

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the notion of constitutional identity in Italy through the analysis of the discourse and practice of the two key constitutional bodies in the Italian institutional regime: the President of the Republic (Presidente della Repubblica) and the Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale). Section 2 briefly outlines Italian constitutional history, setting the context for a discussion about constitutional identity in Italy. Section 3 surveys the discourse of Italian Presidents of the Republic, focusing specifically on the messages that the last three Presidents delivered on topics of constitutional patriotism and European integration. Section 4 discusses the Taricco judgment and its follow-up, explaining how this case represents a turning point in the case law of the CC, due to the limited attention that the CC gives to building bridges and emphasising common European constitutional tradition and the unprecedented emphasis that it instead puts on raising walls and stressing national legal peculiarities. Section 5 concludes by contrasting the approaches of the two Italian organi di garanzia and questioning whether the neo-sovereigntist rhetoric of the CC is not only constitutionally sound given the fundamental principle of Article 11 of the Constitution – which compels Italy to participate in the project of EU integration – but also institutionally advisable at a time when Italy’s pro-EU orientation is for the first time politically at risk.