Associazioni, aggregazioni e assetto costituzionale dei comuni

The diminutive size of many municipalities is an ancient and major problem for the Italian system of local government. In 2010-2012, under the pressure of the financial crisis, several laws have been passed to address this problem by forcing municipalities with 5000 inhabitants, or less, to establish cooperation networks. The essay focuses on the execution of the 2012 legislation, and on the further modifications which have been, or are being, approved by the Parliament: the normative framework apparently goes toward a stabilization, although it is still undergoing changes, and may be questioned in some points. The essay also surveys the principles which may be deducted from constitutional case law on the problematic relationships between statutorily prescribed cooperation and the constitutional guarantee of municipal autonomy: only municipalities may receive a direct democratic mandate by the citizens; inter-municipal cooperation bodies may be established, and also imposed on smaller municipalities, but the latter must have an effective role both in founding these bodies, and in deciding on their policies; at any rate, cooperation is not merely an economic or financial issue, and therefore should not belong to the State competence for financial coordination (as questionably ruled by the Constitutional Court in two recent judgments). Indeed, inter-municipal cooperation choices, as most decisions on administrative geography, have a distinct political character, and must be taken in accordance with the democratic and autonomist principles underlying the Italian Constitution.