A regional council (''Consiglio regionale'') in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

is the elected legislative assembly of a

region of Italy The regions of Italy ( it, regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest. U ...

. In

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, the legislative bodies are called the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna and the

Sicilian Regional Assembly The Sicilian Regional Assembly is the legislative body of Sicily. While it has a long history as an autonomous entity, the modern Region of Sicily was established by Royal Decree on 15 May 1946, before the Italian Republic. The Regional Assembly ...

respectively.

Origins

The '' regional idea'' was born, in Italy, during the national

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

and the first decades after the

Unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, but any proposal was rejected until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. After the collapse of

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

and the end of the war a violent independence movement that led to the institution of the region and the concession of the Statute, based on the model of federal states was born in Sicily. A similar route followed Friuli-Venezia Giulia,

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol it, Trentino (man) it, Trentina (woman) or it, Altoatesino (man) it, Altoatesina (woman) or it, Sudtirolesegerman: Südtiroler (man)german: Südtirolerin (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official ...

and Valley of Aosta. The other regions were instituted by the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

of 1948, but the first elections of regional councils were in 1970.

Powers

Councils had the power to elect the president and other members ( assessors) of regional government (''Giunta Regionale''). With the constitutional reforms of 1999 and 2001, they lost these powers (because the president is elected by the people and the assessors are appointed by the president). On the other hand, the regional councils obtained a lot of new legislative powers, including the regional electoral system, which had been decided by the State.

Electoral system

Until the 1990s, all councils were elected with

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. In order to prevent political instability, a new electoral law, called '' Legge Tatarella'', was introduced for the ordinary regions in 1995, and gradually extended with little changes to the other regions. Now, the coalition of parties that receives the biggest number of votes obtains the absolute majority of the council's seats, and its leader is elected as the President of the region. In Aosta Valley the President is elected by the council. In Trentino- South Tirol, the council is the joint session of the two provincial councils, each one with its own electoral law.

List

The 20 Italian regional councils are as follows: *

Regional Council of Aosta Valley The Regional Council of Aosta Valley ( it, Consiglio Regionale della Valle d'Aosta; french: Conseil de la Vallée) is the legislative assembly of the autonomous region of Aosta Valley. The assembly was founded on 29 December 1945 and its first ...

Regional Council of Piedmont The Regional Council of Piedmont (''Consiglio Regionale del Piemonte'') is the legislative assembly of Piedmont. It was first elected in 1970, when the ordinary regions were instituted, on the basis of the Constitution of Italy of 1948. Compo ...

Regional Council of Lombardy The Regional Council of Lombardy ( it, Consiglio Regionale della Lombardia) is the legislative assembly of Lombardy, Italy. It was first elected in 1970, when the ordinary regions were instituted, on the basis of the Constitution of Italy of 1 ...

Regional Council of Trentino-Alto Adige The Regional Council of Trentino-Alto Adige ( it, Consiglio regionale del Trentino-Alto Adige; german: link=no, Regionalrat Trentino-Südtirol; lld, Consei dla Region Trentin-Südtirol) is the legislative assembly of the autonomous region of ...

Regional Council of Veneto The Regional Council of Veneto (''Consiglio Regionale del Veneto'') is the regional parliament of Veneto. The Council, which has its seat at Palazzo Ferro Fini, located along the Grand Canal in Venice. was first elected in 1970, when ordinar ...

Regional Council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia The Regional Council of Friuli-Venezia Giulia ( it, Consiglio regionale del Friuli-Venezia Giulia; fur, Consei Regjonâl di Friûl Vignesie Julie; sl, Deželni svet Furlanije-Julijske krajine; german: link=no, Regionalrat der Region Friaul-J ...

* Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna *

Regional Council of Liguria In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

* Regional Council of Tuscany * Legislative Assembly of Marche * Legislative Assembly of Umbria * Regional Council of Lazio *

Regional Council of Abruzzo The Regional Council of Abruzzo (''Consiglio Regionale dell'Abruzzo'') is the legislative assembly of Abruzzo. It was first elected in 1970, when the ordinary regions were instituted, on the basis of the Constitution of Italy of 1948. Compos ...

* Regional Council of Molise * Regional Council of Campania *

Regional Council of Apulia The Regional Council of Apulia (''Consiglio Regionale della Puglia'') is the legislative assembly of Apulia. It was first elected in 1970, when the ordinary regions were instituted, on the basis of the Constitution of Italy of 1948. Compositi ...

* Regional Council of Basilicata * Regional Council of Calabria *

* Regional Council of Sardinia

References

Constitutional law {{constitutional-law-stub