The previous report (ISMU Foundation, 2018) analysed the relationship between immigration and politics in light of the results of the political elections that took place in 2017 in a number of European states (France, Germany, Holland and the United King-dom). Similarly, this chapter will present some results from the analysis of the electoral programmes of the main competing parties in the Italian elections of 4 March 2018. We will focus particularly on two issues: attitudes towards migration and the European Un-ion. After presenting the electoral results, we shall analyse the same issues within the so-called \u201cgovernment contract\u201d drafted and signed by the two political forces, the MS5 (the Five Star Movement) and the Lega (the League) that, at the beginning of the legisla-ture, formed a new and unprecedented majority

M. Regalia

N. Pasini

AIR Universita degli studi di Milano

6. The 2018 Italian Generale Elections: 
Focus on Immigration 
Nicola Pasini and Marta Regalia 
1. Introduction  
The previous report (ISMU Foundation, 2018) analysed the relationship between im-
migration and politics in light of the results of the political elections that took place in 
2017 in a number of European states (France, Germany, Holland and the United King-
dom). Similarly, this chapter will present some results from the analysis of the electoral 
programmes of the main competing parties in the Italian elections of 4 March 2018. We 
will focus particularly on two issues: attitudes towards migration and the European Un-
ion. After presenting the electoral results, we shall analyse the same issues within the so-
called “government contract” drafted and signed by the two political forces, the MS5 (the 
Five Star Movement) and the Lega (the League) that, at the beginning of the legislature, 
formed a new and unprecedented majority. 
2. Immigration in the electoral programmes of the parties and coalitions: where 
and how much?  
What are the main political proposals on immigration and the European Union? We 
shall analyse the programmes of the main parties: Partito Democratico/the Democratic 
Party (PD), +Europa/More Europe, Liberi e Uguali/Free and Equal (LeU), the centre-right 
coalition (Forza Italia/Forward Italy, Lega/the League, Fratelli d’Italia/Brothers of Italy 
and Noi con l’Italia/Us with Italy) and the Movimento 5 Stelle/the Five Star Movement 
(M5S).  
In its own electoral programme submitted to the Ministry of the Interior, the PD makes 
no mention of immigration except for a reference to “ius culturae” (p. 8), a call for Europe 
to “take responsibility of the issue of migration” and the warning that “without solidarity 
in how it manages migration, there can be no solidarity in the next European budget” (p. 
9). It does, however, dedicate ample space to the European Union, recommending a de-
velopment model leading to the establishment of a “United States of Europe”.  
+Europa is the only party to have dedicated an entire paragraph to immigration. The 
party intends to radically alter the current Italian legislation on immigration (the “Bossi-
Fini” law): “We must introduce various immigration-for-work mechanisms, starting with 
a temporary residence permit for the purpose of seeking employment” (p. 22). An im-
provement of the reception system is also proposed, with the exclusive adoption of the 
SPRAR (Protection System for Asylum and Refugee Seekers) model. At the European level, 
it recommends changing the Dublin Regulation to “introduce legal and secure channels of 
Commentato [EB1]: Of ISMU Foundation (Fondazione 
ISMU, 2018) 
 
Commentato [MR2R1]: ok 
  The 2018 Italian Generale Elections:  
                                                        Focus on Immigration 
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 The Twenty-fourth Report on Migrations 2018 
 
2 
immigration for work purposes, including non-qualified labour.” (p. 22). The position of 
Emma Bonino’s party on European matters may be taken as given. Indeed, the electoral 
programme opens with the following statement: “Now is the time to say that in looking 
ahead to Italy’s future, we do not need less Europe. On the contrary. In order to see – in-
cluding in Italy – more growth, more rights, more democracy, more freedom, more oppor-
tunities, more security, more respect for the environment, we need More Europe” (p. 2). 
The model of Europe is not, however, that of a “European super state”, but a light-weight 
federation. 
Liberi e Uguali recommends the “rational management of migration, abolishing the 
“Bossi-Fini” law and introducing a jobseekers’ permit and mechanisms for legal immigra-
tion, promoting the creation of a single European system for seeking asylum that trans-
cends the criteria of the country of initial arrival and includes humanitarian channels and 
rescue missions” (p. 12). The party also favours a model of widespread reception in the 
style of the SPRAR and jus soli. On the European Union, Liberi e Uguali takes a decidedly 
Europeanist standpoint, proposing to “fight the technocratic shift that has taken hold in 
Europe, restoring life to the vision of a single European people. (…) We must overcome 
the intergovernmental dimension that dictates duties and fails to guarantee rights in im-
posing policies of severe austerity. We want to give a greater role to the European Parlia-
ment, which elects a true government of the citizens of Europe, so that they can once again 
inhabit their home” (p. 2).  
The parties of the centre-right coalition (Forza Italia, Lega, Fratelli d’Italia and Noi con 
l’Italia) submitted a common programme that recommends, with regard to immigration: 
“taking back control of our borders, intercepting disembarkations by facilitating returns, 
stipulating treaties and agreements with economic migrants’ countries of origin, (…) re-
patriating all illegal immigrants” (p. 6). On the European Union, they promised “fewer 
constraints from Europe, no to policies of austerity, no to excessive regulations that stand 
in the way of development, revision of the European treaties” (p. 4). 
The Movimento 5 Stelle dedicates no.8 of its 20 points to “Stopping the business of im-
migration”, proposing the “immediate repatriation of illegal immigrants” and “10,000 new 
appointments in the territorial commissions so that, like other European countries, Italy 
can assess a migrant’s right or not to stay in Italy within one month” (p. 1). No stand is 
taken on the European Union.  
When comparing the space each party dedicates to immigration and the European Un-
ion in their own political programmes, it is clear that these issues have different levels of 
importance for different parties. On this matter, the Cattaneo Institute has conducted a 
content analysis of the electoral programmes of the main political parties, adopting the 
guidelines of an international research programme, the Comparative Manifesto Project1. 
The Institute analysed and codified all the quasi-sentences (lexical units that express a 
single political concept) contained in the texts of the parties’ programmes, in order to sur-
vey the importance each party assigns to the various policy sectors. In general, the Catta-
neo Institute analysis (Istituto Cattaneo, 2018a) found that 24.8% of all quasi-sentences 
refer to welfare and education, and 17.2% to the economy and taxation, whilst “in third 
place in terms of the importance of the various policy sectors, we find security and legality 
 
1 https://manifesto-project.wzb.eu/. 
Commentato [MR3]: Should elect? 
Commentato [MR4]: Non mi suona bene 
Commentato [EB5]: In biblio in ita quindi aggiungere qui 
Commentato [MR6R5]: ok 
  The 2018 Italian Generale Elections:  
                                                        Focus on Immigration 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
 The Twenty-fourth Report on Migrations 2018 
 
3 
(13.7%), which also partly reflects the degree to which public opinion is focused on im-
migration and the migrant crisis of recent years” (p. 4). The European Union occupies the 
last place (10.4%), after institutional reform (11.9%), work (11.3%) and the environment 
(10.6%). This overlooking of the European Union could derive from the parties’ lack of 
interest in European matters, or reflect the weak cohesion of the pre-electoral alliances ‒ 
especially the centre-right ‒ which failed to find a common platform with regard to the 
EU. However, the Cattaneo Institute data (Graph 1) reveal significant differences with re-
gard to the importance assigned to each policy sector by the programmes of the parties 
considered in the study. Whilst, on average, 13.7% of the quasi-sentences concern secu-
rity and legality, this issue is allotted the most space by the centre-right coalition (20.3%). 
A different analysis by Cavallaro, Salza and Zanetti (2018) demonstrates that “of all the 
typical terms [in the M5S programme], the most frequent (11 occurrences) is immigra-
tion” (p. 74). The programmes also vary in their emphasis of European matters: at one 
extreme, the centre-right devotes no more than 7% of its quasi-sentences to the issue; at 
the other, the equivalent figure for +Europa is 13.2%. M5S came out in the middle with 
11.2%, and 10.4% and 8.1% for PD and LeU respectively. However, according to the Ca-
vallaro, Salza, Zanetti data (2018) the party giving the least weight to the European Union 
was M5S (the term “Europe” appears only six times). 
 
Graph 1. Composition of the electoral programmes based on seven distinct policy sectors (percent-
age values)  
 
Source: Cattaneo Institute data processed by the authors  
3. The results of the vote on 4 March 2018: which proposals proved a success 
with voters? 
If we interpret the results in terms of attitudes to immigration and the European Union 
(Graph 2), we can see that only 24.7% of the votes were won by parties in favour of the 
European Union (PD, +Europa and LeU), with Eurosceptic parties winning a good 37% of 
5,5
5,6
9,1
9,3
14,4
19,5
23,6
28,2
10,7
14,8
7
10,4
13,2
8,1
11,2
6,3
13,9
6,2
20,4
10,3
20,3
6,2
8,9
13,3
11,4
19,5
9
16,1
8,9
17,8
21,9
31,2
18,3
29,3
20,2
C E N T R E - R I G H T
P D
+ E U R O P A
L E U
M 5 S
Environment Economy and taxation Europe and foreign policy
Work Security and legality Institutional reforms and PA
Welfare and education
Commentato [EB7]: Tradurre anche dentro 
Commentato [MR8R7]: fatto 
  The 2018 Italian Generale Elections:  
                                                        Focus on Immigration 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
 The Twenty-fourth Report on Migrations 2018 
 
4 
the vote (the centre-right coalition). Finally, M5S, with its ambiguous position, won 
around one third of the votes. The situation is even more unbalanced in terms of immi-
gration. 37% of the electorate voted for the strongly anti-immigration centre-right coali-
tion and a further 32.7% for the moderately anti-immigration M5S, amounting to a total 
of almost 7/10 voters. Only 24.7%, represented by the pro-Europe parties, voted for par-
ties with favourable positions towards immigration (LeU, +Europa and PD). So it seems 
that the winds blowing against immigration blew even more forcefully than those against 
the European Union.  
Graph 2. Position of the Italian political parties on immigration and the European Union  
 
Source: figures created by the authors based on the political manifestos of the respective parties 
4. The government contract between Lega and Movimento 5 Stelle: the migration 
issue 
After almost three months of unsuccessful negotiation and failed attempts, an execu-
tive led by Giuseppe Conte and supported by M5S and Lega was installed on 1 June 2018. 
The agreement between the two parties became a “Contract for governing change” stipu-
lated by the leaders of the two parties, Di Maio and Salvini. What does the agreement say 
on the topic of immigration? The contract addresses immigration in point 13 of 30, enti-
tled “Immigration: repatriations and stopping the business”. As the title indicates, there-
fore, on the topic of immigration at least, the contract is more aligned to the Lega’s posi-
tion than that of M5S. The introduction is unequivocal: “The current migration issue is 
unsustainable for Italy, given the costs and the associated business, fed by national public 
funds, often managed with little transparency and susceptible to infiltration by organised 
crime” (p. 26). To resolve the issue, “which goes as far as to put the Schengen system at 
risk” (p. 26), Italy must play a leading role in European negotiations on asylum and immi-
gration policies to reduce migrant flows and revise the Dublin Regulations. The ultimate 
goal is for the objective of equal responsibility to be endorsed by the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU 
PD 18.76%
+EUROPA
2,56%LeU 3,39%
CDX 37.00%
M5S 32,68%
-2
-1
0
1
2
-2 -1 0 1 2
Im
m
ig
ra
ti
o
n
European Union
Commentato [EB9]: Tradurre anche dentro 
 
graph 
Commentato [MR10R9]: fatto 
Commentato [MR11]: Mi suona male 
  The 2018 Italian Generale Elections:  
                                                        Focus on Immigration 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
 The Twenty-fourth Report on Migrations 2018 
 
5 
“with the mandatory dispersal of asylum seekers throughout the EU Member States” (p. 
26). Like other European governments, the so-called “yellow-green” government intends 
to tighten up and expedite procedures for verifying or revoking asylum seeker status. In 
this regard, it states that “the assessment of admissibility of requests for international 
protection must take place in the countries of origin or transit, with the support of Euro-
pean agencies, in structures that guarantee full protection of human rights.” (p. 27). Fi-
nally, it calls for what it deems the necessary implementation “of bilateral agreements 
between Italy and the European Union with third countries, to clarify and expedite repat-
riation procedures” (p. 27), deemed non-deferrable and urgent. To this end, it recom-
mends identifying temporary custody and repatriation centres (at least one per region) 
where illegal immigrants may be detained for a maximum of 18 months while procedures 
for their effective repatriation are completed. These initiatives must be funded using a 
portion of the resources allocated to receiving migrants. Proposals are made concerning 
security and public order, such as “defining specific crimes that, when committed by asy-
lum seekers, result in immediate removal from national territory” (p. 27) or the necessity 
to “demolish the smuggling business and (…) dismantle international criminal organisa-
tions engaged in human trafficking” (p. 27), or, to “make it possible to investigate and im-
mediately close all radical Islamic associations, including mosques and places of worship 
of any denomination found to be illegal” (p. 28). Several references are made to the cur-
rent system for managing migrants, which is deemed non-transparent. The proposal is 
made to replace the current system run by private companies, and involve public institu-
tions to a greater degree by entrusting the running of the centres to the Regions. One An anal-
ysis by the Cattaneo Institute analysis (Istituto Cattaneo, 2018b) found that “the most concrete 
political proposals in the “contract” between M5S and Lega relate to the sector defined as 
“law and order”, i.e. issues of security, immigration control and increasing the penalties 
for certain crimes. (…) The political contribution of the Lega’s positions on “security” is 
particularly evident here, the latter being transposed directly into the government con-
tract, making it easier for voters to judge the degree to which promises are actually kept” 
(p. 2).  
5. The immigration and security decree and the recommendations of the Presi-
dent of the Republic 
On 24 September 2018, the Council of Ministers unanimously approved the so-called 
“Salvini Decree” on immigration and security. Under three headings, the decree addresses 
three issues: reforming the right to asylum and citizenship; public safety, and preventing 
and countering organised crime; administration and management of goods sequestered 
and confiscated from mafia organisations. President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella 
signed the decree on 4 October, whilst simultaneously sending a letter to the President of 
the Council, Giuseppe Conte, in which he advocated adhering to the Constitution on the 
rights of foreign nationals. Here is a summary of the provisions made on immigration. The 
first article of the decree contains new measures on political asylum and, in fact, revokes 
the provision of protection for humanitarian reasons introduced in Italy in 1998 under 
the Testo Unico (Consolidated Law) on immigration. The Salvini Decree doubles (from 90 
  The 2018 Italian Generale Elections:  
                                                        Focus on Immigration 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
 
 The Twenty-fourth Report on Migrations 2018 
 
6 
to 180 days) the maximum term for which foreign nationals may be held in centri di per-
manenza per il rimpatrio (custody and repatriation centres) or CPRs, formerly known as 
CIEs. The decree also stipulates that asylum seekers may be detained for a maximum of 
30 days in so-called “hotspots” for the purpose of ascertaining their identity and citizen-
ship. The current standard reception managed by Italian municipalities ‒ the system for 
receiving asylum seekers and refugees (SPRAR) ‒ is limited to cases in which individuals 
are already beneficiaries of international protection or to unaccompanied foreign minors. 
More funds are also being allocated to repatriation: 500,000 euros in 2018, 1.5 million 
euros in 2019 and a further 1.5 million in 2020. The decree also extends the list of crimes 
that result in the revocation of refugee status and subsidiary protection, to include, among 
others, production, possession and trafficking of drugs, theft, domestic burglary, armed 
robbery and extortion, threatening or assaulting a public official and sexual violence.  
6. Conclusions. The development of the Italian party system: immigration and 
Europe,; two connected issues 
As the various analyses and interpretations of our Foundation in its studies on the re-
lationship between immigration and politics have shown, we can, once again ‒ in relation 
to the elections in Italy ‒ reaffirm that the interwoven issues of Europe and immigration 
are strongly divisive, both in terms of electoral campaigns and governmental decisions. In 
relation to immigration and, consequently, the identity of the European Union as well, the 
challenge arises of sharing a common cultural horizon. As with the 2017 elections in many 
European countries, the outcome of Italy’s political elections on 4 March 2018 points to 
the strengthening of widespread opposition to immigration feeling, and a highly sceptical 
attitude towards Europe. This is more than a trend: Europe and immigration, seen with 
negative connotations, occupy the political stage with a highly significant electoral con-
sensus. This has inevitably changed the current and even future political agenda of na-
tional and EU government. The 2019 European elections will surely serve as a testing 
ground for the robustness of the European political system.  
References 
Cavallaro M., Salza G., Zanetti M.A. (2018), “Il futuro in programma. Analisi quantitativa dei pro-
grammi dei partiti alle elezioni politiche del 2018”, in Cavallaro, M., Diamanti, G., Pregliasco, L., 
Una nuova Italia, Castelvecchi, Roma. 
Fondazione ISMU (2018), Ventitreesimo Rapporto sulle migrazioni 2017, FrancoAngeli, Milano. 
Istituto Cattaneo (2018a), Che programmi avete per le elezioni? Analisi delle proposte politiche dei 
partiti, Press release, available at: https://www.cattaneo.org/2018/02/06/che-programmi-
avete-per-le-elezioni/ (5 October 2018). 
Istituto Cattaneo (2018b), Chi ha vinto la partita del governo?, Press release, available at: 
https://www.cattaneo.org/2018/05/23/chi-ha-vinto-la-partita-del-governo/ (5 October 
2018).     


The 2018 Italian General Elections: Focus on immigration

The previous report (ISMU Foundation, 2018) analysed the relationship between immigration and politics in light of the results of the political elections that took place in 2017 in a number of European states (France, Germany, Holland and the United King-dom). Similarly, this chapter will present some results from the analysis of the electoral programmes of the main competing parties in the Italian elections of 4 March 2018. We will focus particularly on two issues: attitudes towards migration and the European Un-ion. After presenting the electoral results, we shall analyse the same issues within the so-called “government contract” drafted and signed by the two political forces, the MS5 (the Five Star Movement) and the Lega (the League) that, at the beginning of the legisla-ture, formed a new and unprecedented majority

Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca- Università del Piemonte Orientale

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The 2018 Italian General Elections: Focus on immigration

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