Strengthening and sharing democratic rules

Greece’s economic and social disasters, along with its negative consequences for the monetary union – beyond the years-long irresponsible management of the common good in the Country – are caused primarily by the lack of boundaries within its political and administrative structures. This shows that the political stability of the European Union depends not only on the proper performance and interaction of its bodies and institutions since controlling the functioning of Member States plays an equally important role. It is therefore desirable that the essential elements of member Countries’ government systems respond to a set of specific requirements. This could happen only on the basis of general consensus, since the internal order of member States, as ruled in their national constitutions, is unquestionably under their own responsibility, according to the principle of subsidiarity. While such minimum requirements cannot and should not lead to the harmonization between procedures and regulations, it should however be aimed at guaranteeing that all States follow specific, mutually agreed principles, in order to provide stability and prevent flaws in the Constitutional regulations and in procedures of political organization which cause instability, as brought to the fore by common experience and highlighted by political sciences. Consensus on these criteria, based on fundamental institutional and procedural benchmarks at national level, cannot be achieved through negotiations. Those regarding the Constitution are very delicate questions, as they involve the historical identity of Member countries. And governments will never change its opinion to this regard. However, the possibility of consensus in this delicate area should not be ruled out completely. For example, according to the dynamics of integration within the European Union, Member States’ political systems should be increasingly interrelated. This necessarily leads to converging national systems, processes and institutions. This process will be furthered also by the power of attraction exerted by setting good examples. The closer the cooperation among Member States’ representatives within European bodies for the resolution of common problems, the greater the mutual understanding between bordering countries. And the more the political and civil society players pursue the same goals in trans-national organizations and parties, the more will the interest of Member Countries and of their national leaders be encouraged to eliminate existing flaws within their national systems compared to those of their neighbours, in order to achieve a harmonization with long-term European standards. This is the reality of member Countries, which in response to the crisis of the monetary Union have been placing utmost efforts to carry out reforms of their economic, social and political structures, namely, of their national Constitutions. Italy, which has undertaken significant constitutional reforms prompted also by the need to create the conditions to overcome political and economic stagnation, could serve as an example. In particular, the reform of the electoral law, designed to improve parliamentary elections and to recover a direct relationship between candidates and voters, with the reduction in the number of candidates proposed by political parties, is an urgent issue. This is expected to have a regulatory impact. But it won’t be enough to prevent the fragmentation of political forces typical of Italy’s party system and the resulting instabilities. Thus, it is equally necessary to adopt a law regulating political parties’ requisites understood as a preliminary condition for participation in national elections. The Italian Constitution stipulates a set of regulatory principles, but they were never transformed into legislation. In Italy, the lack of a law providing for a clear definition of political parties, of their functioning and funding, has repeatedly caused situations which have weakened the governmental system: on the one side, it has led transient groups and movements to occupy the Parliament while refraining from participating in legislation at the service of the common good; on the other, – often owing to divisions and frictions – the emergence of an excessive number of parties and factions was encouraged in order to serve the personal goals of their protagonists. It is a very burdensome situation, which impacts democratic infrastructures as well as the political life of the Country. A democracy expressed at national level, and through an association of Countries such as the European Union, is based on the democratic performance within its political parties. For this reason, a law regulating political parties should ensure the respect of democratic principles as regards the identification of political leaders and the composition of governing bodies, as well as the definition of the political candidates. Several member Countries of the European Union provide good examples of such regulations and laws.