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What does Italy’s state of emergency mean and why has it been extended?

Italy has extended its state of emergency once again. Here's what that actually means for people in the country.

Published: 8 October 2020 10:51 CEST
What does Italy's state of emergency mean and why has it been extended?
Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (L) and President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Roberto Fico. Photo: AFP
 
The Italian government has extended the state of emergency until January 21st, 2021, which would mark a year since it was first introduced.
 
What is the state of emergency?
 
The most important thing to know is that the state of emergency itself does not determine the emergency rules and restrictions. It’s not the same thing as an emergency decree.
 
And while it sounds dramatic, the declaration of a state of emergency has a specific purpose.
 
It gives greater powers to both the national government and to regional authorities, and it was declared in order to allow the Prime Minister to introduce, change, and revoke rules quickly, via emergency decrees, in response to the ever-changing epidemiological situation.
 
 
The state of emergency effectively cuts through bureaucracy, as the introduction of these new rules and laws would otherwise require the usual lengthy parliamentary process.
 
It also allows regional authorities to bring in their own local rules aimed at containing the spread of the virus.
 
Under the state of emergency, Conte’s government has issued a series of emergency decrees, usually referred to in Italy as DPCM (Decreto del presidente del consiglio, or Prime Minister’s decree) since the outbreak of Covid-19 began.
 
The decrees have been used to introduce, tighten or relax various rules depending on the current infection rate in Italy and in other countries.
 
Under the state of emergency it is easier for officials to introduce new health measures and to declare “red zones” in case of outbreaks.
 
While the coronavirus infection rate in Italy at the moment remains relatively low, it is rising and it the government says it wants to be able to act swiftly if things change.
 
 
Will the current rules in Italy change?
 
The extension of the state of emergency does not automatically mean that rules put in place under the current emergency decree will also be extended.
 
However the state of emergency is needed to allow the government to pass new rules quickly throug parliament in response to the changing coronavirus situation.
 
Italy is set to pass its next emergency decree on or before October 15th.
 
On October 7th, ministers approved a new rule making masks compulsory outdoors at all times of the day, everywhere in Italy.
 
The mask-wearing rule is backed up with large fines for non-compliance.
 

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POLITICS

‘Worrying developments’: NGOs warn of growing pressure on Italian media freedom

Media freedom in Italy has come increasingly under pressure since Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government took office, a group of European NGOs warned on Friday following an urgent fact-finding summit.

Published: 17 May 2024 17:40 CEST
‘Worrying developments’: NGOs warn of growing pressure on Italian media freedom

They highlighted among their concerns the continued criminalisation of defamation – a law Meloni herself has used against a high-profile journalist – and the proposed takeover of a major news agency by a right-wing MP.

The two-day mission, led by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), was planned for the autumn but brought forward due to “worrying developments”, Andreas Lamm of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) told a press conference.

The ECPMF’s monitoring project, which records incidents affecting media freedom such as legal action, editorial interference and physical attacks, recorded a spike in Italy’s numbers from 46 in 2022 to 80 in 2023.

There have been 49 so far this year.

Meloni, the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, took office as head of a hard-right coalition government in October 2022.

A key concern of the NGOs is the increased political influence over the RAI public broadcaster, which triggered a strike by its journalists this month.

READ ALSO: Italy’s press freedom ranking drops amid fears of government ‘censorship’

“We know RAI was always politicised…but now we are at another level,” said Renate Schroeder, director of the Brussels-based EFJ.

The NGO representatives – who will write up a formal report in the coming weeks – recommended the appointment of fully independent directors to RAI, among other measures.

They also raised concerns about the failure of repeated Italian governments to decriminalise defamation, despite calls for reform by the country’s Constitutional Court.

Meloni herself successfully sued journalist Roberto Saviano last year for criticising her attitude to migrants.

“In a European democracy a prime minister does not respond to criticism by legally intimidating writers like Saviano,” said David Diaz-Jogeix of London-based Article 19.

He said that a proposed reform being debated in parliament, which would replace imprisonment with fines of up to 50,000 euros, “does not meet the bare minimum of international and European standards of freedom of expression”.

The experts also warned about the mooted takeover of the AGI news agency by a group owned by a member of parliament with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party – a proposal that also triggered journalist strikes.

READ ALSO: How much control does Giorgia Meloni’s government have over Italian media?

Beatrice Chioccioli of the International Press Institute said it posed a “significant risk for the editorial independence” of the agency.

The so-called Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium expressed disappointment that no member of Meloni’s coalition responded to requests to meet with them.

They said that, as things stand, Italy is likely to be in breach of a new EU media freedom law, introduced partly because of fears of deteriorating standards in countries such as Hungary and Poland.

Schroeder said next month’s European Parliament elections could be a “turning point”, warning that an increase in power of the far-right across the bloc “will have an influence also on media freedom”.

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