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Italy’s referendum is ‘not like Brexit’: Renzi

Italy’s upcoming referendum on constitutional reform is not akin to Brexit, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said in an interview on Monday.

Published: 12 July 2016 08:09 CEST
Italy’s referendum is 'not like Brexit': Renzi
Italian premier Matteo Renzi has staked his leadership on the upcoming referendum on constitutional law. Photo: Olivier Morin/AFP

Renzi, who became premier in February 2014, has staked his leadership on the outcome of the vote, which is due to be held in either October or November.

In that respect, many are comparing it to the UK’s referendum on leaving the EU, which was called by ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron stepped down on June 24th, the day after the country voted to leave the bloc, immediately causing political and economic chaos.

Read more: Why Italy might be the next big threat to the EU's future

“I don’t believe it’s the same thing,” Renzi told Corriere columnist Beppe Severgnini, adding that the UK’s referendum “blamed the EU for everything that failed to happen”.

The Italian referendum is something else, he added.

The ''Yes' or 'No' referendum on which Renzi is betting his political future intends to bring about reforms that would streamline Italy's political system, which basically means getting laws passed quickly and stabilizing future governments.

The reforms are much-needed. But now the important decision has been left in the hands of Italians after parliament failed to reach the maximum support required to avoid sending it to a public vote.

The problem is, with many failing to grasp Italy's complex political systems, the vote could be a chance for people to simply say “Yes” or “No” to Renzi as the country's leader.

Renzi stepping down would undoubtedly pave the way for the eurosceptic Five Star Movement, the second-biggest party in parliament, to gather even more ground.

“For 30 years we’ve been saying that constitutional reforms are needed because we have the largest and most expensive parliament in the world, and I will do everything in my power to make sure the reforms law is voted on its merits,” Renzi said.

“I'm not afraid of the referendum, because you shouldn't be afraid of people expressing themselves.”

The referendum comes as the government tries to force through legislation which will dramatically reduce the size and influence of the upper house of parliament, or senate.

If the changes are passed, the number of senators will be slashed from 315 to a mere 100. Unlike today, the senators will not be directly elected, but hand-picked by the government from local councils across the country.

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MIGRANT CRISIS

Italy joins countries calling for asylum centres outside EU

Italy is one of 15 EU member states who have sent a joint letter to the European Commission demanding a further tightening of the bloc's asylum policy, which will make it easier to transfer undocumented migrants to third countries, such as Rwanda, including when they are rescued at sea.

Published: 17 May 2024 11:59 CEST
Italy joins countries calling for asylum centres outside EU

The countries presented their joint stance in a letter dated May 15th to the European Commission, which was made public on Thursday.

It was sent less than a month before European Parliament elections across the 27-nation European Union, in which far-right anti-immigration parties are forecast to make gains.

Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania signed the letter.

In it, they ask the European Union’s executive arm to “propose new ways and solutions to prevent irregular migration to Europe”.

They want the EU to toughen its asylum and migration pact, which introduces tighter border controls and seeks to expedite the deportation of rejected asylum-seekers.

The pact, to be operational from 2026, will speed up the vetting of people arriving without documents and establish new border detention centres.

The 15 countries also want to see mechanisms to detect and intercept migrant boats and take them “to a predetermined place of safety in a partner country outside the EU, where durable solutions for those migrants could be found”.

They said it should be easier to send asylum seekers to third countries while their requests for protection are assessed.

They cited as a model a controversial deal Italy has struck with Albania, under which thousands of asylum-seekers picked up at sea can be taken to holding camps in the non-EU Balkan country as their cases are processed.

READ ALSO: Italy approves controversial Albanian migrant deal

The European Commission said it would study the letter, though a spokeswoman, Anitta Hipper, added that “all our work and focus is set now on the implementation” of the migration and asylum pact.

Differences with UK-Rwanda model

EU law says people entering the bloc without documents can be sent to an outside country where they could have requested asylum – so long as that country is deemed safe and the applicant has a genuine link with it.

That condition differentiates it from a scheme set up by non-EU Britain under which irregular arrivals will be denied the right to request asylum in the UK and sent instead to Rwanda.

Rights groups accuse the African country – ruled with an iron fist by President Paul Kagame since the end of the 1994 genocide that killed around 800,000 people – of cracking down on free speech and political opposition.

The 15 nations said they want the EU to make deals with third countries along main migration routes, citing the example of the arrangement it made with Turkey in 2016 to take in Syrian refugees fleeing war.

Camille Le Coz, associate director of the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank, said: “In legal terms, these models pose many questions and are very costly in terms of resource mobilisation and at the operational level.”

The opening date for migrant reception centres in Albania set up under the deal with Italy had been delayed, she noted.

With the June 6th-9th EU elections leading to a new European Commission, the proposals put forward by the 15 countries would go into the inbox of the next commission for it to weigh them, she said.

She also noted that EU heavyweights France, Germany and Spain had not signed onto the letter.

“For certain member countries, the priority really is the implementation of the pact, and that in itself is already a huge task,” Le Coz said.

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