Evaluation Report on Italy on Transparency Of

Strasbourg, 23 March 2012 Public Greco Eval III Rep (2011) 7E Theme II Third Evaluation Round Evaluation Report on Italy Transparency of Party Funding (Theme II) Adopted by GRECO at its 54 th Plenary Meeting (Strasbourg, 20-23 March 2012) Directorate General I GRECO Secretariat F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex Human Rights and Rule of Law Council of Europe +33 3 88 41 20 00 Information Society and Action against www.coe.int/greco Fax +33 3 88 41 39 55 Crime Directorate I. INTRODUCTION 1. Italy joined GRECO in 2007. GRECO adopted the Joint First and Second Round Evaluation Report on Italy (Greco Eval I-II Rep (2008) 2E) at its 43 rd Plenary Meeting (29 June- 22 July 2009). The aforementioned Evaluation Report, as well as its corresponding Compliance Report, is available on GRECO’s homepage ( http://www.coe.int/greco ). 2. GRECO’s current Third Evaluation Round (launched on 1 January 2007) deals with the following themes: - Theme I – Incriminations: Articles 1a and 1b, 2-12, 15-17, 19 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ETS 173) 1, Articles 1-6 of its Additional Protocol 2 (ETS 191) and Guiding Principle 2 (criminalisation of corruption). - Theme II – Transparency of party funding: Articles 8, 11, 12, 13b, 14 and 16 of Recommendation Rec(2003)4 on Common Rules against Corruption in the Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns, and - more generally - Guiding Principle 15 (financing of political parties and election campaigns). 3. The GRECO Evaluation Team for Theme II (hereafter referred to as the “GET”), which carried out an on-site visit to Italy from 5 to 7 October 2011, was composed of Mr Fernando JIMENEZ SANCHEZ, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Murcia (Spain), Ms Zorana MARKOVIC, Director, Anti-Corruption Agency (Serbia), and Mr Marcin WALECKI, Chief of Democratic Governance, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The GET was supported by Ms Laura SANZ-LEVIA and Mr Yüksel YILMAZ from GRECO’s Secretariat. Prior to the visit the GET was provided with a comprehensive reply to the Evaluation questionnaire (document Greco Eval III (2011) 8E REPQUEST, Theme II) as well as copies of relevant legislation. 4. The GET met with officials from the following governmental organisations: Ministry of Justice, Senate, Chamber of Deputies, Department of Information and Publishing of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Board of Auditors for the examination of financial statements of political parties, Board of Comptrollers of Election Expenses at the State Audit Court, Regional Electoral Guarantee Board, Prosecutor Office of Rome and Court of Cassation. The GET also met with representatives of political parties (Il Popolo della Libertà, Partito Democratico, Unione di Centro, Italia dei Valori, Federazione della Sinistra, and Sinistra Ecologia Libertà). Moreover, the GET met with representatives of the national chapter of Transparency International, the media and academia. 5. The present report on Theme II of GRECO’s Third Evaluation Round on Transparency of party funding was prepared on the basis of the replies to the questionnaire and the information provided during the on-site visit. The main objective of the report is to evaluate the measures adopted by the authorities of Italy in order to comply with the requirements deriving from the provisions indicated in paragraph 2. The report contains a description of the situation, followed by a critical analysis. The conclusions include a list of recommendations adopted by GRECO and addressed to Italy in order to improve its level of compliance with the provisions under consideration. 6. The report on Theme I – Incriminations, is set out in Greco Eval III Rep (2011) 7E, Theme I. 1 Italy signed the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ETS 173) on 27 January 1999; it has not yet been ratified. 2 Italy signed the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention (ETS 191) on 15 May 2003; it has not yet been ratified. 2 II. TRANSPARENCY OF PARTY FUNDING – GENERAL PART Overview of the political/electoral system 7. Italy is a parliamentary democratic republic, administratively divided into 20 regions, one of which (Trentino – Alto Adige) consists of two autonomous provinces. The head of the State is the President, who is elected for a seven year term. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, subject to approval by the Parliament. The bicameral Parliament consists of the Chamber of Deputies (630 elected members) and the Senate (315 elected members plus 6 non- elected members), members of both houses are directly elected by universal adult suffrage. 8. The voting age in Italy is 18 years for Chamber of Deputies elections, and 25 years for Senate elections. The right to stand for Chamber elections is 25 years, and 40 years for Senate elections. 9. General elections are (as a rule, although practice proves differently) to be held every five years. 10. The electoral rules have been subject to several amendments since the early 90’s. From 1948 to 1992 a proportional (d’Hondt) representation system was used; it produced very fragmented legislatures, short-lived and unstable coalition governments. From 1945 to 1993 there were a total of 52 governments, which on average lasted less than a year in office. A new electoral system was adopted in 1993: three quarters of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate were filled by majority voting, whilst the remaining seats were assigned through a proportional system (mixed electoral system, so-called Mattarellum ). It was expected that, through this new system, the political landscape would be simplified and would guarantee an alternation in government. However, a system of electoral alliances of a plurality of small parties and political parties emerged, giving rise to two broad electoral cartels on the right and on the left, which have alternated in power. From 1994 to 2006, eight governments, lasting little more than a year, have been in office. In the parliamentary elections held in April 2006, the electoral system was changed: a proportional election system with a majority bonus was applied. 11. Under the current electoral system, for elections to the Chamber of Deputies, each elector casts one vote for a party list. These lists are closed, so electors cannot choose individual candidates or alter the order of such lists. 618 out of 630 Chamber seats are distributed at national level by the method of proportional representation among: (i) coalitions that obtain at least 10% of the vote and which include at least one party that obtains 2% of the vote or more; (ii) political parties that obtain at least 4% of the vote, running individually or as part of a coalition that obtains less than 10% of the vote; and (iii) parties representing recognised linguistic minorities that obtain at least 20% of the vote in their corresponding regions. Chamber seats awarded to a coalition are in turn proportionally allocated among constituent parties that have obtained at least 2% of the vote; however, this requirement is waived for the coalition party with the largest number of votes among those polling fewer than 2%. The new system provides for a nationwide majority bonus: if the coalition that obtains a majority of votes initially receives less than 55% of the seats (340 out of 618), its number of seats is increased to 340. In this case, the remaining seats are apportioned among the other qualifying coalitions and individual parties. Chamber seats are subsequently distributed among 26 multi-member districts. Italian citizens residing abroad elect the remaining 12 deputies; these seats are also distributed according to the method of proportional representation. 12. For elections to the Senate, electors vote for a closed party list in 18 of Italy's 20 regions. Senate seats in these regions are apportioned by a proportional representation method among 3 (i) coalitions that receive at least 20% of the vote and which include at least one party that receives 3% of the vote or more, as well as (ii) parties that receive at least 8% of the vote, running individually or within a coalition that receives less than 20% of the vote. Senate seats awarded to a coalition are in turn proportionally allocated among constituent parties that have received at least 3% of the vote. The new Senate system also features a regional majority bonus: if the coalition that obtains a majority of votes in a given region is initially allocated less than 55% of the seats filled in the region, its number of seats is increased to no less than 55% percent of the region's total, and the remaining seats are distributed among the other qualifying coalitions and individual parties. Finally, 6 senators are chosen by Italian citizens residing abroad; these seats are filled in the same manner as the corresponding seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Legal framework and registration of political parties 13. The Italian legal system does not provide for a definition of political parties; nevertheless, on the basis of Article 49 of the Constitution, they can be defined as a free association of persons with a view to contributing to designing national policies through democratic processes. In accordance with established case-law, political parties and movements are considered as private and non- recognised associations, which are regulated by the Civil Code. 14. In Italy, political parties and movements have no legal personality and are not required to be recognised by Government or to be registered. Nevertheless, under the applicable rules for associations in the Civil Code, political parties can be vested with autonomous rights and obligations, distinct from that of their individual members. Participation in elections 15. A total of 44 parties stood for the last parliamentary elections held on 13-14 April 2008.

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