The Chamber of Deputies approved the Rome Capital Constitutional Bill for the first time.

The Chamber of Deputies has received its first approval for the constitutional reform bill. This bill, amending Article 114, recognizes Rome as the capital city and thus grants the mayor legislative powers over eleven areas, allowing them to be managed at the local level. These include local public transportation, commerce and crafts, tourism, the promotion of cultural and environmental assets, the organization of cultural activities, social policies, and public housing. The constitutional bill, already approved by the Council of Ministers last July, was approved by 159 votes in favor out of 247, 33 against, and 55 abstentions. Therefore, the document did not obtain the two-thirds majority required in the second round to avoid a referendum. The Five Star Movement and the Left Green Alliance voted against the bill, while MPs from the Democratic Party and Italia Viva abstained.

Among the opposition, Azione has expressed its support. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration, and then, after a three-month hiatus, it will return to both chambers. A broad consensus was initially envisioned, but in recent months, a clash erupted between the majority and the opposition over an amendment, later adopted by the League, which sought to grant greater powers and functions to the mayors of all metropolitan city capitals. Following a lengthy internal debate within the center-right, the agenda was reformulated and approved today with a text that effectively postpones the possible extension of the measures to other territories. The text now reads: “Evaluate the opportunity to complete the measures introduced by the measure under consideration with further legislative initiatives of constitutional rank aimed at also granting metropolitan city capitals functions equal to those granted to the Rome Capital Authority with the present measure.”

Satisfaction was expressed by the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, He nevertheless hoped for broader consensus in the upcoming elections: “The initial approval is a positive development, allowing the parliamentary process to begin for a very important and long-awaited measure, necessary to provide the capital with a system, powers, and resources appropriate to its role,” he said. “A broader consensus would have been desirable, and from this perspective, the climate of tension and constant conflict between the parties has not been helpful. It is now important that the reform process continues, that the content of the ordinary law and the resources needed to implement the new regulatory framework be agreed upon as soon as possible, and that everyone commits to completing the reform by the end of the legislative session on the basis of a broad parliamentary majority.”

The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, commented on the Democratic Party’s decision to abstain: “It’s a deeply striking decision because, as is well known, the text of the constitutional bill incorporated, during parliamentary consideration, the proposals presented by Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri. Today, however, the Democratic Party has decided not to honor its commitments and to interrupt a fully supported constituent process, which until now had seen the full involvement of the Capitoline Hill and the Lazio region and had matured in Parliament. It is impossible to accept the Democratic Party’s invitation to implement shared reforms if the Democratic Party itself refuses to vote for a shared reform that strengthens the institutional role of the capital, regardless of who governs it today and will govern it tomorrow. Today, a constituent process is interrupted, and those responsible for this choice have names and surnames. The Democratic Party and Mayor Gualtieri will have to answer for this choice to the citizens.”

The Chamber of Deputies approved the Rome Capital Constitutional Bill for the first time.

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