Chamber of Deputies

The European Delegation Law and the European Law

Article 29(4) of Law 234/2012 establishes that the Government must bring a European Delegation Bill before both Houses of Parliament by 28 February of each year. The same law delegates the Government to transpose EU directives into Italian law, give legal force to other EU measures, and amend or repeal existing legislation to the extent necessary to keep Italian domestic law aligned to the reasoned opinions or the convictions of the European Court of Justice.

The law identifies which EU directives require the prior submission of a draft legislative decree or a draft implementing regulation to the relevant parliamentary committees for an opinion before they can be adopted.

If fresh issues of compliance arise, Government may, by 31 July of each year, present an additional European Delegation Bill pertaining to the second half of the same year.

According to the Chamber's Rules of Procedure (which are related to the draft Community Law), the European Delegation Bill shall be scrutinised along with the Government's annual report on the participation of Italy in the EU legislative process over the previous year (see above). Consideration is carried out both by the EU Policies Committee acting in a reporting capacity and by other parliamentary committees acting with reference to their respective area of responsibility.

Pursuant to Article 29(5) of Law 234/2012, the Government may, when necessary, present Parliament with a "European Bill", which, once enacted, assigns Government the power to implement EU regulatory obligations directly by amending or abrogating national laws that have been the object of infringement proceedings or adverse judgments from the Court of Justice, along with the power to implement European Union acts and international agreements of the EU, as well as provisions promulgated in connection with the exercise of surrogate power.

Before 31 July of each year, the Government may bring a further European bill before Parliament, the name of which shall end with the words "Second Semester", and which shall be accompanied by an explanatory report.

Parliamentary oversight of infringement procedures

infringement procedures. To ensure parliamentary oversight of infringement procedures, the Government shall:

every quarter year, forward a list to Parliament containing all judgments pertaining to Italy of the Court of Justice (ECJ) and other EU courts, any infringement proceedings against Italy, any formal investigation procedures regarding the provision of state aid that the European Commission may have begun; and, every six months, acquaint Parliament with the financial implications, if any, of these judgments and proceedings;

every six months, inform the Houses of Parliament on the progress made by regions and autonomous provinces in transposing those elements of European directives that fall within their purview;

present a report to the Houses of Parliament setting out the reasons for delay if a measure for the transposition of an EU directive is not passed within the deadline set by the EU;

apprise the Houses of Parliament of a decision by the European Commission to open infringement proceedings;

inform the Houses of any significant developments in infringement proceedings for failure to implement a judgment of the Court of Justice that may lead to a further judgment from the Court ordering the State to remit a lump sum or penalty payment.

If an infringement procedure or a formal proceeding regarding State aid forms the basis of a government bill, decree, or draft legislative decree pending parliamentary approval, or simply if so requested by either House, the Government shall make the relevant data and documents available to Parliament.

Parliamentary monitoring of the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

Article 43 of Law 238 of 23 December 2021 (aka the "2019-2020 European Law") lays down provisions for the parliamentary monitoring of the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). In particular it provides that:

the Government shall send six-monthly reports to Parliament on the progress of the implementation of the NRRP;

the reports sent by the Government shall be examined by the parliamentary committees responsible for consideration of the NRRP, which shall conduct appropriate fact-finding activities to verify that the EU resources allocated to Italy are being put to proper use and that final and interim goals are being met;

parliamentary committees shall hold hearings with the parties responsible for project planning and implementation and visit locally and nationally significant active project sites;

once they have considered all the six-monthly reports, the parliamentary committees may adopt policy-setting instruments for the Government in which they point out any problems in the programme of reforms agreed at the European level or in the progress of individual projects.

Verifying the compatibility of bills with EU legislation

Under the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, the EU Policies Committee is required to issue an opinion on the compatibility with EU legislation of all bills containing provisions of European relevance.

The relevant parliamentary committees are likewise expected to consider questions of coherence with EU legislation during their pre-legislative scrutiny of a bill.