Differentiated autonomy stumbles over the Lep, that’s what they are

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Just three months after its establishment, the Committee which has the task of defining the essential levels of performance in view of differentiated autonomy, has lost four authoritative members, unleashing an inevitable political controversy. The news, anticipated by Il Sole 24 Ore, opened a heavy crack. In practice, the Lep are the minimum standards of public service essential to guarantee throughout the national territory the “civil and social rights” protected by the Constitution. The Committee’s work will continue, assured the Northern League minister for regional affairs and autonomy Roberto Calderoli.

The letter

With a letter addressed to the president of the committee, the former presidents of the Constitutional Court Giuliano Amato and Franco Gallo, the former president of the Council of State Alessandro Pajno and the former Minister of Public Administration Franco Bassanini have decided to step aside because- they written – «there are no longer the conditions for our participation in the work of the Committee».

The reform of Title V of the Constitution: State competent to define the Lep

The essential levels of services, as recalled in a dossier by the Chamber and Senate research offices, constitute the nucleus of services to be provided uniformly throughout the country in order to guarantee the protection of civil and social rights. This need for uniformity led, during the reform of Title V of the Constitution in 2001, to expressly attribute the legislative power relating to their definition to the exclusive competence of the State.

The indications of the Constitutional Court

Constitutional jurisprudence has clarified (see sentence 220 of 2021) that the Lep indicate the spending threshold constitutionally necessary to provide social services of a fundamental nature, as well as the insurmountable nucleus of minimum guarantees to make these rights effective (in the same sense also judgments 142 of 2021 and 62 of 2020).

The delegation to the Government in matters of fiscal federalism

The delegation to the Government on fiscal federalism (Law 42 of 2009) delegated the determination of the Lep to the State law. Until this new determination, the Essential Levels of Performance already established according to state legislation would have been considered.