Italy: Citizens called to vote in referendum on naturalization and labor law

A non-EU resident with no marriage or blood ties to Italy must currently live in the country for ten years before applying for naturalization, a process that can then take years. The proposal, submitted to a referendum, proposes reducing this period to five years, which would bring Italy into line with Germany and France.

Supporters of the "yes" vote claim that up to 2.5 million people could benefit from this reform, which is supported by the Democratic Party (PD, center-left), the main opposition force. The referendum initiative, which came from opposition parties and NGOs, collected more than 500,000 signatures last September, as required by law.

Meloni "absolutely against"

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia (FDI) party, which came to power in 2022 on an anti-migrant platform, declared that she was "absolutely against" the measure. The parties in her coalition urged their electorate to stay away from the polls, as a turnout of more than 50% is required for the vote to be valid.

For Giorgia Meloni, the current nationality law is "excellent" and "very open." "We are one of the European nations with the highest number of naturalizations," she emphasized Thursday. According to Eurostat, Rome granted Italian nationality to 213,500 people in 2023, representing one-fifth of all naturalizations in the European Union.

In March, the government restricted access to naturalization by blood relationship, making only foreigners with Italian grandparents or parents eligible, whereas previously ancestry could be traced back to great-great-grandparents. Even if the "yes" vote wins, the rule that children born in Italy to foreign parents cannot apply for citizenship until they turn 18 will remain unchanged.

Rapper Ghali, who is very popular in the country and was born in Milan to Tunisian parents, urged his fans to vote. "Some were born here, have lived here for years, […] feel Italian in every way, but are not recognized as citizens," he denounced on Instagram, calling for a "yes" vote in the referendum because "we ask that five years of life be enough […] to be part of this country."

Italians are also being asked to vote on Sunday and Monday, again by referendum, on a proposal to abolish four laws liberalizing the labor market. This consultation is being sought by the CGIL (left-wing) union, the country's main trade union confederation, which has also collected the 500,000 signatures needed for the vote to take place.

The union hopes to restore protections against precarious contracts, layoffs, and workplace accidents that were removed in the past. "We want to reverse a culture that has prioritized the interests of companies over those of workers," explained Maurizio Landini, general secretary of the CGIL.