The New Italian Senato in light of the EU constitutional system. College of Europe Policy Brief #10.16, May 2016

Executive Summary > On 12th April 2016 the Italian Parliament definitively passed a constitutional reform, which supersedes the Italian equal bicameralism (i.e. same structure and functions for both the Chambers, Camera and Senato), which is one of the causes of the inefficiencies of the Italian system of government. A referendum on it will very likely be held in October 2016. > Italian membership of the EU has had an effect on the content of this reform: EU governance requires member states to deal efficiently with EU institutions. > With this reform, the Italian Senato should play a specialised role in EU affairs, as happens in some other member states with a bicameral system. Therefore, the reform can be considered as valuable in light of the EU constitutional system set out by the Treaty of Lisbon