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2007 Assessment

Italy: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Italy: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Budget Processes
Indicators		Score
37	Can the legislature provide input to the national budget?	100
38	Can citizens access the national budgetary process?	83
39	In law, is there a separate legislative committee which provides oversight of public funds?	100
40	Is the legislative committee overseeing the expenditure of public funds effective?	75

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Can the legislature provide input to the national budget?

37a: In law, the legislature can amend the budget.

Score:

YES

Comments: The annual budget of the state is a law, i.e. must be passed by the Parliament to entry into force, so there is a full control on state budget by the legislature. In sum, national budget is based on three main laws and one political document. LAWS: the balance for the next year (Bilancio di previsione), the closed budget for the past year (Rendiconto generale dello Stato), and the financial law (Legge Finanziaria), the law that introduces amendments with an impact on national budget. DOCUMENT: Economic-financial planning (Documento di programmazione economico finanziaria), a document that contains the econmic perspectives of the nation, the priority of the executive and the means to achieve the results. In particular with the financial law the two houses have the power to introduce or modify items in the national budget.

References: Art. 81 of the Constitution Art 81: The houses approve every year the budgets and expenditure accounts submitted by the government. Provisional use of the budget cannot be conceded unless by law and for periods not exceeding a total four months. With the law approving the budget it is not possible to introduce new taxes and new expenditures. Any other law involving new or increased expenditures must specify the means for meeting them.

37b: In practice, significant public expenditures require legislative approval.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: All significant government expenditures (defined as any project costing more than 1% of the total national budget), must be approved by the legislature. This includes defense and secret programs, which may be debated in closed hearings. 50 Score Criteria: Most significant government expenditures (as defined) are approved by the legislature, but some exceptions to this rule exist. This may include defense programs, an executive\'s personal budget, or other expenses. 0 Score Criteria: The legislature does not have the power to approve or disapprove large portions of the government budget, or the legislature does not exercise this power in a meaningful way.$

Comments:

References: Any expenditure made by the government is legitimated by the annual balance law as approved by the Parliament. See in details the balance laws and related discussion in [ LINK ]

See a decription of the main budget documents and related discussions in [ LINK ]

37c: In practice, the legislature has sufficient capacity to monitor the budget process and provide input or changes.

Score:

100

Comments: The Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei deputati) has a permanent commission of 47 parliamentaries: The Senate (Senato) has a permanent commission of 25 members.

References: [ LINK ] [ LINK ]

Can citizens access the national budgetary process?

38a: In practice, the national budgetary process is conducted in a transparent manner in the debating stage (i.e. before final approval).

Score:

100

Comments:

References: All the documents related to budgetary process are available on the websites of the two houses. Further documents are availble also in other websites of state authorites: see for example [ LINK ] or [ LINK ]

38b: In practice, citizens provide input at budget hearings.

Score:

100

Comments: Citiziens can follow the debates on the budget in its drafting stage from the media or directly from the sources of information of the Parliament. In some cases citizens have publicly expressed their agreement or disagreement on some crucial points, though the impact of such inputs is limited.

References: publication: press author: various date: nn/aa title: various websites: see for example www.ilsole24ore.com, www.corriere.it, www.repubblica.it

38c: In practice, citizens can access itemized budget allocations.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Bilancio di previsione 2005 [ LINK ]

In law, is there a separate legislative committee which provides oversight of public funds?

39: In law, is there a separate legislative committee which provides oversight of public funds?

Score:

YES

Comments: Both houses of the Parliament have a permanent commission on public expenditures. Budget expenditures are controlled also by the judiciary (the Court of Accounts).

References: Camera dei Deputati, V Commissione Permanente Senato della Repubblica, V Commissione

Is the legislative committee overseeing the expenditure of public funds effective?

40a: In practice, department heads regularly submit reports to this committee.

Score:

100

Comments: The Commissions receive reports every three months and have the powers to start ad hoc investigations on specific aspects of expenditures.

Recently, the Ministry of Economics has re-classified the public balances items, now listed by programs and missions, in order to increase transparency and monitoring of expenditures.

References: Interview with Mrs. Germana di Falco, secretary of the president of the 5th Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, September 24, 2007.

40b: In practice, the committee acts in a non-partisan manner with members of opposition parties serving on the committee in an equitable fashion.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The committee is comprised of legislators from both the ruling party (or parties) and opposition parties in a roughly equitable distribution. All members of the committee -- including opposition party members -- are able to fully participate in the activities of the committee and influence the committee\'s work to roughly the same extent as any other member of the committee. 50 Score Criteria: The committee is comprised of legislators from both the ruling party (or parties) and opposition parties although the ruling party has a disproportionate share of committee seats. The chairperson of the committee may be overly influential and curb other members\' ability to shape the committee's activities. 0 Score Criteria: The committee is dominated by legislators of the ruling party and/or the committee chairperson. Opposition legislators serving on the committee have in practice no way to influence the work of the committee.$

Comments: Members of the commissions are choosen with respect to the composition of the chamber. In the current legislature, 23 of the 47 mambers of the 5th Commission of the chamber belong to the ruling party, 21 to the oppsition and one is in the independent group (Gruppo misto).

References: [ LINK ] [ LINK ]

40c: In practice, this committee is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: This committee operates independently of the political process, without incentive or pressure to render favorable judgments on politically sensitive issues. Investigations are rarely praised or criticized by political figures. 50 Score Criteria: This committee is usually independent but is sometimes influenced by negative or positive political incentives. This may include public praise or criticism by the government. 0 Score Criteria: This committee is commonly influenced by personal or political forces or incentives. This may include conflicting family relationships, professional partnerships, or other personal loyalties that ultimately influence the committee\'s behavior and decision-making. Negative incentives may include threats, harassment or other abuses of power by the government.$

Comments: The commissions are made by members of the two chambers with respect to the political balances of the two Chambers. This means a substantial parity between the two coalitions' delegates in the Commissions, which doesn't ensure the independence from politics, but a balance between different political visions.

References: [ LINK ] [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Harsh political divisions that are typical of the current Italian parliament are influencing, in a negative way, committees' efficiency. Thus, too often, political contrasts outweigh technical considerations.

40d: In practice, when necessary, this committee initiates independent investigations into financial irregularities.

Score:

100

Comments: The commission has powers to request information, but the investigation on violations of financial statements is conducted by the Court of Accounts.

References: [ LINK ] [ LINK ]