While the independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia have received substantial attention, other countries across Europe are also facing demands from regions for greater autonomy or secession. Eve Hepburn writes on three such movements in Italy: in South Tyrol, Veneto and Sardinia. She argues that the result of the Scottish referendum is likely to shape the immediate future of these regions, with regionalist parties either calling for official independence referendums or greater devolution of powers

Hepburn, Eve

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Venice, Credit: MorBCN (CC-BY-SA-3.0)09/09/2014The ‘domino effect’ from Scotland’s referendum isincreasing demands for independence in Italian regionsblogs.lse.ac.uk /europpblog/2014/09/09/the-domino-effect-from-scotlands-referendum-is-increasing-demands-for-independence-in-italian-regions/While the independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia have received substantial attention, othercountries across Europe are also facing demands from regions for greater autonomy or secession.Eve Hepburn writes on three such movements in Italy: in South Tyrol, Veneto and Sardinia. Sheargues that the result of the Scottish referendum is likely to shape the immediate future of theseregions, with regionalist parties either calling for official independence referendums or greaterdevolution of powers.Something peculiar is happening in Italy. A country that was reluctantly soldered together by theefforts of Mazzini, Cavour and Garibaldi in the late nineteenth century looks like it’s beginning tocome apart at the seams. And I’m not just talking about Italy’s struggles with political corruption, organised crime,economic malaise, institutionalised gender inequality and social inequality. Though that does have something to dowith it. No, I’m talking about the increasingly restive regions of Italy getting tired of being stuck on board the Italianmothership. From Veneto and South Tyrol in the north to Sicily and Sardinia in the south, Italy’s regions want fullautonomy and constitutional change. And they want it now.Little of this will come as any surprise to anyone familiarwith Italian politics. The grievances and demands ofregionalist and nationalist movements have long been apart of the political scene in Italy. However, somethinghas changed in their discourse in the last couple ofyears, and with it, so have their demands. No longercontent with trying to seek reform ‘from within’, forinstance by creating stronger forms of regionalgovernance in the semi-federal Italian state, manyregionalist parties have now abandoned those plansaltogether in favour of outright secession.‘Why now?’ you might ask. Well, that’s a good question.Ten years ago I would have told you that it might havesomething to do with European integration. Italianregionalist parties – like so many across Europe – hadtheir hopes of a post-sovereign political order dashedwith the failure to create a ‘Europe of the Regions’ in theearly 2000s. Some turned against Europe. Othersradicalised their demands, realising that independence– and not some nebulous form of regional autonomy in Europe – was the only way to get what they wanted: realself-determination.But if you asked me today, I would say it had something to do with inspiration from foreign shores, or in more socialscientific language, ‘policy transfer’. Italian regionalist parties have been watching with fascination theindependence debates unfolding in Scotland and Catalonia, and they are wondering why they can’t implement thesame model at home. Certainly, there are some challenges for direct policy transfer: there’s the small issue that anyreferendum on independence would be illegal under Italian constitutional law. But when has that ever stoppedanyone?1/4Indeed, in the last year, three regions in Italy have held their own ‘unofficial’ referendums on independence, inspiredby their Scottish and Catalan counterparts.South TyrolSouth Tyrol went first, holding an online referendum on secession from Italy and annexation to Austria last year. Thismay sound a little strange to those unacquainted with South Tyrol politics, so let me explain: Südtirol is a northernAlpine province in Italy which used to be part of the Austrian empire and was annexed to Italy after the First WorldWar. Despite Mussolini’s attempts at Italianisation, the majority of the population remains German-speaking andclaims an Austrian/Bavarian heritage.The South Tyrol question has been the source of bitter rivalry between Austria and Italy, but an agreement wasreached in the 1970s when the region was given considerable self-rule and it has since been governed by the pro-autonomy hegemonic Südtiroler Volkspartei (SVP). However, in the last few years, calls for secession have been onthe rise and a new party, Süd-Tiroler Freiheit , organised a referendum in October 2013 on the reunification of SouthTyrol with Austria. Of the 61,000 people who voted (out of a total electorate of 400,000), the result was a clearendorsement of secession from Italy: 92 per cent voted in favour. In response, the Austrian Prime Minister,blushingly, had to deny any moved to annex the territory, and the ruling SVP has said it is firmly in favour ofmaintaining its ties with Italy. Despite this, Süd-Tiroler Freheit has subsequently done well in provincial elections andseparatism appears to be gaining traction in South Tyrol, especially for young people. This may mean that we seemore demands for independence in the future.VenetoTurning to another northern territory in Italy, Veneto has also been making moves towards independence this year,holding an online referendum on secession in March 2014. Veneto, like South Tyrol, is one of the wealthiest regionsin Italy and it has its own dialect, culture and history of previous statehood. When the post-war constitution of Italywas created in 1948, many Venetians were frustrated not to have been given an autonomous special statute and aregionalist movement – the Liga Veneta (Veneto League) – emerged in the 1970s demanding self-determination.The Liga, which is now part of the Northern League political group, has recently gained momentum and is thelargest party in the regional government. In March 2014, the President of the Region, Luca Zaia, gave support to anunofficial referendum on independence for Veneto, in which 89 per cent of participants voted yes. Although the pollhas been strongly criticised as illegitimate (as many Latin Americans of Venetian descent were found to have voted),subsequent polls carried out by researchers found that a majority of Venetians – about 55 per cent – did wantindependence. With President Zaia’s support, the regional council approved two bills in June 2014: one onincreased autonomy for Veneto in the form of a special statute, and a second passing legislation on anindependence referendum – which will be held in due course.SardiniaWhile the demands for independence made by political actors in South Tyrol and Veneto were made on economicgrounds (to stop sending their hard-earned cash to ‘corrupt’ officials in Rome) as much as identity concerns, thesituation is quite different in another Italian region. Lying 200km off the Italian coast, the island of Sardinia is one ofthe poorest regions in Europe. Sardinia had a history of semi-independence through its position in the Kingdom ofSardinia, and the island was granted special status in the Italian constitution of 1948.This was largely due to the formidable inter-war nationalist movement, which won 36 per cent of the vote inSardinian elections in 1919. The Partito Sardo d’Azione (Psd’Az) demanded self-determination within a federalItalian state and the recognition of Sardinia’s distinctiveness. But although the Psd’Az was a catalyst for recognitionof Sardinia’s specialità, its electoral fortunes have waned and other parties in Sardinia have taken up the banner. Inparticular, three new nationalist parties that seek independence – the Partito dei Sardi, Rossomori and2/4Indipendentzia Repubrica de Sardigna (iRS) – are currently in coalition government in Sardinia with the centre-left,and are trying to re-write Sardinia’s special statute (constitutional law) to give it more powers.Moreover, several days after the Veneto plebiscite in March, the Psd’Az declared that it was going to hold its ownreferendum on independence – having now moved to supporting secession. The Psd’Az also pledged to bringanother motion to the regional assembly calling for an official referendum on independence. The Psd’Az had alreadytried this before in 2012, when the motion had failed by one vote. Next time, however, given the popularity ofindependence referendums in Scotland, Catalonia and Veneto, we may expect to see a plebiscite on independenceapproved in Sardinia too.The ‘domino effect’ on Italian independence movementsWhat these three independence-seeking movements clearly have in common is their growing confidence in holdinga plebiscite on independence in light of the growing success of such movements elsewhere. The Sardiniannationalists have made numerous references to Scotland in their discourse and demands for independence, andsome parties – such as Partito dei Sardi – have been forging ties with the Scottish National Party. In Veneto, thecross-party organisation ‘Veneto decides’ – which includes the Liga Veneta and other independence-seeking parties– make multiple references to Scotland and Catalonia as the two ‘most important nascent republics’ in Europe otherthan Veneto. In South Tyrol, the regional media and independence-seeking parties make frequent references to thereferendums in Scotland and Veneto. And across Italy, the national media has focused on the Scottish and Catalanreferendums in terms of their potential impact on regionalist fervour in Italy.This is a salient issue. For it is undeniable that the referendums in Scotland and Catalonia are raising the question ofwhat this means for Italy. So what might happen in the case of a ‘yes’ result in Scotland on 18 September? Well,SNP success in winning independence for Scotland will likely give strength to independence-seeking movementselsewhere. In particular, it may encourage some of the more ‘moderate’ regionalist and nationalist parties seekingforms of devolution and autonomy within the state to radicalise their demands in favour of secession. A ‘yes’ result inScotland may also give succour to those in Italy who oppose the constitutional stipulation that Italy is indivisible andsecession is illegal. Instead, a peaceful negotiation of Scotland’s exit from the UK may give legitimacy toconsultative referenda on independence in Italy (and elsewhere – including Spain).And what might the effect be in the event of a ‘no’ vote? It is very likely that this will strengthen the arguments ofanti-independence actors in Italy, who may similarly articulate that regions are ‘better together’ within the largerItalian state, especially in times of economic recession.However, a ‘no’ vote in Scotland may not herald the end of constitutional change, either in Scotland or elsewhere.The pro-UK parties – Labour, Lib Dems and Conservatives alike – have all promised to grant the ScottishParliament further constitutional powers in the event of a ‘no’ result. If they play their cards right, independence-seeking parties in Italy may use this fact to put pressure on the national government to do the same for Veneto,Sardinia and South Tyrol. In particular, it will likely give strength to demands to create a special statute of autonomyfor Veneto, and to increase the powers of the Sardinian and South Tyrol devolved institutions. Whatever theoutcome of the Scottish vote, therefore, the end result is very likely to be constitutional change – be it independenceor devo-max – not only for Scotland but for stateless nations and regions seeking stronger forms of self-determination elsewhere.Please read our comments policy before commenting .Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics and Policy, norof the London School of Economics.Shortened URL for this post: http://bit.ly/1olB8wd _________________________________3/4About the authorEve Hepburn – University of EdinburghEve Hepburn is Senior Lecturer in Politics in the School of Social and Political Science at theUniversity of Edinburgh.4/4

The ‘domino effect’ from Scotland’s referendum is increasing demands for independence in Italian regions

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