PARLIAMENTARY POLICY SETTING, FACT-FINDING AND SCRUTINY ACTS CONFIDENCE VOTE, MOTIONS, RESOLUTIONS, ORDERS OF THE DAY, QUESTIONS AND INTERPELLATIONS

November 2017

FOR STARTERS

In addition to its legislative function, Parliament also has other important functions such as that of policy setting and scrutiny of the Government’s activity, so Parliament must be aware of the activities performed by Government to assess if the latter is in line with its declared actions and objectives. To carry out their various tasks the two Houses have all the fact-finding tools they need to acquire information (from the Government but also from other sources). The Constitution envisages all of them, with one point in common: the request for an answer by Government.Unlike the legislative power − collectively exercised by both branches of Parliament − policy setting and scrutiny procedures are a prerogative exercised by each House and/or each MP.

THE FIRST POLICY SETTING PROCEDURE IS THE CONFIDENCE VOTE

Before the Government takes office, it has to win a confidence vote in the House and Senate. In fact, after a Government is formed the latter has period of 10 days within which it must illustrate its political programme to Parliament and obtain a confidence vote. If it wins the vote then a relationship of ‘trust’ is established between the two institutions; this relationship can be verified at any moment during the parliamentary term either:

by a no-confidence motion that must be submitted by at least 1/10 of the parliamentary members of the House or Senate. The no-confidence vote can refer either to the Government or to an individual minister;the Government may call a vote of confidence to compel the Parliament to reconfirm its support in relation to a specific draft bill being considered by the House.

Should Parliament return a no-confidence vote either regarding the Government or one of its Ministers (individual no-confidence vote), the Government and/or the Ministers resign.

POLICY SETTING PROCEDURE: WHAT IS A MOTION?

MPs can use other policy setting procedure to introduce certain specifications or integrate the programme on which the relationship of trust is based: a Motion, a Resolution and Orders of the day.A Motion promotes discussion and deliberation by the Assembly regarding the activities of the Government and includes indicating an action to the Government. It is considered a politically important procedure that is, however, not binding: Government is not legally obliged to behave as requested by Parliament, but in this case, it assumes the political responsibility to diverge from the specific guideline provided by Parliament.A motion can be submitted by a Group Chairperson, by 10 MPs or 8 Senators. It is put on the agenda of Parliament and discussed and voted by the Assembly. Amendments to the initial text can be submitted; they too will be discussed and voted.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A MOTION

How to distinguish a Motion from other guidance and control procedures?

after they are tabled they are assigned a catalogue number that always begins with 1. For example: A.S. (Senate Procedure) or A.C. (House Procedure) 1-0001;the text of a Motion always starts with the formula: This Motion requi-res the Government to...

The basic elements of a motion are: it must be justified; it is not possible to vote for ‘separate parts’; orders of the day cannot be tabled; it involves a nominal vote. If several motions are submitted on the same subject or similar subject, they can be discussed at the same time.

A RECORD: 98 MOTIONS IN A SINGLE SESSION

This wouldn’t be surprising if we were talking about Parliament, given the number of MPs (but even then, it would pretty unique!). Instead we’re talking about the Municipal Council of Castellanza, a town in the province of Varese with a little over 14,000 inhabitants.

In August 2016 the municipal council-lors belonging to the Group ‘Sognare insieme Castellanza’ submitted 98 Motions during a single session, “re-acting positively to the Mayor’s request for active, participated collaboration”. What were the motions about? Everything in the political manifesto of the civic list: culture, sport, the environment, urban planning, the municipal market and waste collection.

RESOLUTIONS

Resolutions express orientation or policy setting about sectoral policies. The process can end in approval by the Assembly, but more often than not it is approved only by the competent Committee.Although similar to a motion (both are discussed and voted), it is, however, less ‘forceful’ because it is a manifestation of intent rather than a tool supporting or censuring a particular activity by the Government.Furthermore, amendments to a resolution are not usually submitted, but it is possible to submit other resolutions on the same topic. If the resolutions focus on similar subjects, they are merged and one vote is held only on the final version. continued

RESOLUTIONS

Preparatory work, such as formal and informal hearings, may be performed.A Government representative must be present when the resolution is discussed and voted. The Government can request that the resolution be voted by the Assembly rather than the Committee.How is it possible to immediately recognise a resolution? From its catalogue number, which always begins with 6 for Assembly Resolutions and 7 for Committee Resolutions.

EVERYONE DESERVES A RESOLUTION, EVEN HORSES & CO

In March 2017 the European Parliament decided to focus on animal welfare – so far nothing new – but this time it concentrated on a specific and often forgotten category: equines. The proposed Resolution was submitted by a British MEP, Julie Girling (Europe-an Conservatives and Refor-mists Group). And we know how much the British love their horses!

In fact, her request was to improve the welfare and living conditions of the horses, donkeys and mules in Europe. After the resolution was approved Girling immediately got to work and said: “I can’t wait to work closely with the Commission to move forward on these recommendations”.

No, it is not the agenda of the works. Parliament uses this tool to indicate the way in which Government should implement the draft bills being deliberated by the Assembly or the Committee; it is therefore complementary to another text, usually a draft bill.It often contains a series of clarifications and details about the main text, and mandates Government to implement and/or interpret it in a certain manner.It starts with words, “The Senate requires Government to....” or “The Senates invites Government to...” (not to be confused with Motions!).It can either be voted or not voted. In general it is not voted, especially when Government accepts the indications proposed by Parliament; this is why standard formulas are used, for example “approves the order of the day” etc. Government can also accept it on the condition that the text is specifically reformulated, or it can consider it a ‘recommendation’.It is not possible to submit orders of the day with the contents of rejected amendments.

POLICY SETTING PROCEDURES: THE ORDER OF THE DAY

POLICY SETTING PROCEDURES DURING THE XVII PARLIAMENTARY TERM: LET’S TAKE STOCK

The Prime Minister’s Department for Relations with Parliament always keeps an updated list of the policy setting procedures the Government must answer. Statistics up to November 2017 show that:in the HousePROCEDURE SUBMITTED VOTED (voting completed)Motion 1,746 1,254 (71.8%)Resolution in the Assembly 368 368 (100%)Resolution in the Committee 1,387 496 (35.8%)

PROCEDURE SUBMITTED VOTED (voting completed)Motion 859 331 (38.5%)Resolution in the Assembly 268 260 (97%)Resolution in the Committee 360 348 (96.7%)

in the Senate

SCRUTINY PROCEDURE

These procedures are used by Parliament to gather use-ful information and exercise control over the actions and policies implemented by Government.They are called Questions or Interpellations and can be submitted by one or more MPs belonging to the majority party and opposition.

Question: is a question by one or more MPs to one or more Govern-ment representatives with a view to gathering information or obtaining ex-planations about a specific event or action.It is always submitted in written form to the President of the Assembly; however... continued

... depending on the kind of question submitted, the Government can either give:

a written answer. The catalogue number is 4. For example: A.C. 4-001 (House Procedure) or A.S. 4-001 (Senate Procedure). The Government representative who is questioned replies in a letter which is published in the parliamentary acts of the House or Senate. According to the parliamentary Rules of Procedure the Government has to reply within 20 days;an oral answer. The catalogue number is 3 for Questions to the Assembly and 5 for Questions to the Committee. After the procedure has been submitted, the Government representative must intervene in the Assembly and reply to the Question within 15 days. The Government normally answers either during question time or else in front of the competent Committee.

The MPs who have submitted the question have 5 minutes to say whether or not they are satisfied with the answer.

SCRUTINY PROCEDURE

QUESTIONS BY MPS: UFOS AND OTHER TOPICS

Questions can (but should they?) be posed about any topic. Parliament can ask questions about anything and MPs have no qualms about asking the Government even the most bizarre questions. For example:Aliens: in 2012 two MPs belonging to Italia de Valori asked the Government if Italy had a section in the Armed Forces specifically responsible for studying UFOs, if there were classified documents on this topic and, if so, could they be made public.A few years later – 2014 – a member of Fratelli d’Italia asked whether the Government could confirm it was studying ‘unidentified flying objects’.Eolo, the ‘compressed air’ car: according to the secret sources of a Lega Nord Senator, a car apparently running on compressed air is said to have been patented, but was then unexplainably withdrawn from the market despite the construction of an assembly facility. continued

Last but not least, even if it is not a policy-setting or scrutiny procedure, the draft bill about ‘virtual strikes’, presented by an MP belonging to the Democratic Party. How would it have worked? The worker communicates the date to his/her employer, goes to work anyway, but is not paid because he/she is formally on strike!

The imagination of parliamentarians runs even wilder at the European Parliament: a French MP belonging to Front National asked the Commission if it had a ‘plan to encourage the use of insects as food’; an MEP belong to the Lega asked that light be shed on the mystery of the blood coming out of baggage at Malpensa Airport, perhaps because a lot of passengers are transporting meat (lamb) or other animals illegally – is this true?

QUESTIONS BY MPS: UFOS AND OTHER TOPICS

Since 1997 Italy has adopted the question time procedure, similar to the UK one. It involves posing a one-off, clear and concise question about urgent issues and/or current political affairs. Queries are submitted before midday the day prior to discussion; they are either signed by the Parliamentary Group Chairperson or by the Chair of the Committee (if question time takes place in the Committee). Speaking time is allotted as follows:

one minute for the person who submitted the question to illustrate the issue;three minutes for the Government to answer;two minutes for the person who submitted the question, or a member of his group, to reply.

Question Time in the House is held on Wednesdays at 3 pm and is broadcast live. In the Senate it is put on the agenda every two weeks, every second Thursday at 4 pm, and may be broadcast live, especially if the Prime Minister intervenes or the issues are particularly newsworthy.

ORAL QUESTIONS: QUESTION TIME

QUESTION TIME FOR THE PM NEVER GOT OFF THE GROUND

From the very start it was obvious that Prime Ministers didn’t take to this repartee with Parliament, and political observers began to talk about the non-implementation of the PM’s question time.Berlusconi, Monti, Letta... in the recent past only Prodi in 2007 answered a barrage of questions from Parliament about the most diverse issues: antimissile defence, pensions, the Dal Molin Project, renewable energy and the youth package.On the other hand, the House and Senate can in no way coerce the Government; it is a political rather than juridical obligation.And what about Renzi?In 2014 he took questions from MPs and didn’t overrun his time limit! He was defined as being ‘unusually brief’, a ‘fast format Renzi’. He spoke about hot topics: pensions, immigration, etc.

INTERPELLATIONS

An interpellation is politically more important than a question, because it doesn’t only ask the Government for information about a specific event or issue, but is formulated in such a way as to obtain explanations and answers about its political orientation and actions.

It is put on the agenda of the parliamentary Assembly two weeks after being presented; each MP can only present two interpellations during the same session.Parliamentary Group Chairpersons can table “urgent” interpellations which are dealt with the week they are presented.Interpellations are catalogued with the number 2. For example, A.C. (House Procedure) 2-001.

THE POWER OF A PARLIAMENTARY ENQUIRY

Article 82 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic specifies that each House may conduct enquiries on matters of public interest. In this case “it appoints a Committee so composed as to reflect the proportional representation of the Parliamentary groups”. The purpose of the enquiries is not only to control and steer the activities performed by Government, but also to have a clear idea about the social phenomena and dynamics that Parliament is required to regulate.The Committees of Inquiry can also be bicameral, in other words made up of MPs and Senators. A statute Law is used to establish these committees. Article 82 also specifies that “The Committee conducts its investigations and examinations with the same powers and the same limitations as the judicial authority”. continued

The following are a few of the topics investigated by Par-liament: depleted uranium, feminicide, the murder of Aldo Moro, and the waste cycle. Parliament can also take ad-vantage of a more bland in-quiry tool: fact-finding com-mittees. The latter are used to obtain news, information and docu-ments that may be useful in parliamentary activities.

Formal or informal hearings are held with anyone who may have interesting information for the purposes of the enquiry. A verbatim report is published after every Committee session.The enquiry ends with the approval of a document reporting the results.The following are a few of the topics that have been investigated: Independent Authorities, the status of research in Italy, and citizenship.

THE POWER OF A PARLIAMENTARY ENQUIRY

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