In 2020, the European Commission introduced the Rule of Law (RoL) framework for EU member states. The primary goal of this initiative is to enhance and fortify the efforts to advance democracy, fundamental rights, and the rule of law. The mechanism is based on an annual process of monitoring and dialogue and applies to all EU member states simultaneously. In order to highlight issues and advance best practices throughout the Union, each annual report focuses on important thematic areas, such as media freedom, anti-corruption frameworks, judicial independence, and checks and balances. The RoL Reports for the candidate countries like Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Montenegro were also published for the first time in 2024. The Country Chapter on Italy emphasises that judicial independence, strategic litigation against journalists, free speech constraints, and the application of European Court rulings continue to be issues of concern despite several reforms. The report offers comprehensive recommendations for resolving the issues and improving the RoL situation in Italy, with a focus on strengthening civic space, public involvement, transparency, and whistleblower protection. 

The judicial system

According to the report, the Italian government has revamped the judicial system, altering the standards for selecting High Court of Cassation members, granting access to justice, and evaluating the competence of magistrates. Despite these important changes, the report finds that public support for judicial independence has sharply decreased after 2023 and this remains a major problem. According to the country chapter, it is alarming when political leaders verbally attack judges because it compromises the judiciary's perceived independence. The government approved a proposed constitutional amendment in May 2024 that would create two High Councils—one for judges and one for prosecutors. The report notes that stakeholders remain divided on the question of judges and prosecutors having separate careers. While some think this is a positive measure, others think it might jeopardise the independence of prosecutors and the unity of the judiciary. The report further states that in order to handle disciplinary actions against magistrates, the draft reform also suggests creating a High Disciplinary Court with 15 members. However, the creation of a High Disciplinary Court has drawn criticism from the National Association of Magistrates.

According to the report, in order to strengthen the tax courts' independence from the Ministry, Italy has established the Department of Tax Justice as an independent entity under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). The newly constituted department's primary responsibilities include administering and managing tax judicial activity, creating and managing the digitalisation of tax justice, and managing the procurement procedures for products and services necessary for the tax courts' operation. The report notes that despite the reforms, the Ministry may be a party to tax court actions through its tax agencies, hence concerns have been voiced over the actual independence from MEF. 

The report expands on a major overhaul of the legal system in June 2022 — the reforms introduced stricter rules on revolving doors along with a new magistrate evaluation system and an enhanced process for the selection of judicial heads. Digitalisation of justice is a crucial focus in the RoL report which mentions that while civil justice has been digitised, tax and criminal justice are still undergoing the process of digitisation. However, challenges remain in the implementation of digital solutions for criminal courts and prosecutors' offices. ​The report also notes that Italy lags behind other EU member states in digital solutions for court proceedings and ranks among the lowest according to the 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard,  an annual overview that provides comparative data on the efficiency, standard, and autonomy of the judicial systems among the member states. According to the report efficiency continues to be a significant problem in the Italian judicial system as the length of proceedings remains among the longest in the EU. 

Analysis of the anti-corruption framework 

The Report focuses on the current legislative developments and the main components of Italy's anti-corruption framework. It also outlines the duties of the Guardia di Finanza's Anti-Corruption Unit, the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC), and the Bank of Italy's Financial Intelligence Unit. It explores in detail the various reforms Italy has implemented in an effort to combat corruption. Some of the crucial reforms mentioned in the report are:

• To help public administrations and entities avoid conflicts of interest that may arise from the undue influence in areas of public procurement when public officials move to private sector roles or vice versa, guidelines for revolving doors are being developed as part of the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NAP).
• A draft law was approved by Parliament in July 2024, with the intention of repealing the offence of abuse of public office and restricting the scope of the offence of trading in influence. Concerns regarding this reform have also been voiced by stakeholders, according to the report, who point out that if the crime of abuse of public office is abolished, fewer instances of fraud and corruption may be discovered and looked into. They have also argued that stricter lobbying laws would have to be in place to compensate for any reduction in the scope of offence of trading in influence. The government defends the  draft legislation by stating that administrative inefficiencies could be reduced as these offences seldom lead to convictions. 
• The approval of a draft law by the Chamber of Deputies on January 16, 2024, that could reduce the time for pursuing charges related to corruption.
• Law enforcement bodies continue to derive benefits from digitisation as well as IT investments, for instance, the merging of databases by the Guardia di Finanza and the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate. The Ultimate Beneficial Ownership Register, which has been in operation since September 29, 2023, is expected to be a valuable source of data for the authorities in their fight against financial crime.
• Progress made in conflict-of-interest legislation which is currently under review in the Senate of the Republic.
• The progress in whistleblower protection as new Guidelines on procedures for the submission and management of whistleblowing reports were issued in July 2023. Following the Guidelines, the number of whistleblower reports increased to 1032 in 2023 from 348 in 2022.

Despite such extensive reforms, the RoL Report underlines that corruption remains a persistent challenge which is evident from the fact that 78% of Italians see corruption as rampant according to the 2024 Special Eurobarometer on Corruption. According to the report, corruption in public procurement is rampant as recurring vulnerabilities in the distribution and administration of public contracts remain despite continuous efforts to resolve the issue. The Italy Chapter further underlines the lack of political will for the adoption of comprehensive lobbying regulations or establishing a legislative footprint– the Chamber of Deputies has a lobbying register, but a comprehensive framework for both parliamentary chambers remains unfulfilled. The report highlights the shortcomings of Italy's integrity system which stems from the lack of lobbying regulations and the limited advancement made in the reform of political parties and their campaign finance. Thus, a persistent issue is the absence of a centralised register regarding financial data related to political campaigns. 

The situation of media pluralism and media freedom 

The Italian Constitution guarantees press freedom, while the Freedom of Information Act grants citizens access to information and records maintained by government agencies. The Communication Regulatory Authority (AGCOM), a media regulator that continues to operate independently, is in charge of the postal service, electronic media communications, and audiovisual media services. With the introduction of reforms in 2023, AGCOM assumed more duties, including more authority to regulate online platforms. According to the 2024 report, AGCOM's sustained independence and functional autonomy in the exercise of its regulatory authority—which includes the power to monitor, regulate, and issue fines on media providers—are ensured by a solid legal base.

However, the report highlights several concerns regarding the state of media freedom and pluralism in Italy:

• Stakeholders have raised concerns about RAI’s (public service broadcaster) governance and funding system, particularly with respect to political interference in the appointment of top managerial posts. Financial sustainability remains a key issue despite the government undertaking measures to solve this problem. Stakeholders feel that the government's actions, such as the creation of the Single Fund for Pluralism and Digital Innovation, have not gone far enough and that more all-encompassing strategies are required to guarantee the media sector's sustainability.
• The challenges that journalists and media personnel face like attacks, intimidation, threats, and strategic lawsuits (SLAPPs). According to the report, since the 2023 RoL Report, the Council of Europe's Platform to promote the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists has listed multiple alerts, four of which were related to physical attacks on journalists and three of which were cases of harassment and intimidation of journalists. The report also mentions that the Coordination Centre for monitoring threats against journalists does not track SLAPP cases, which leads to such threats going underreported​.
• The legislative initiatives to control media ownership and openness have not changed. Despite the requirement for press, radio, and audiovisual media outlets to register their ownership structures, stakeholders point out that there is still a lack of publicly accessible data, which prevents complete transparency. Additionally, the report elaborates how media organisations are concerned about legislative efforts like "Nordio's reform" and the "Costa amendment," which suggest limitations on the release of judicial papers which restricts access to information.​

Therefore, the report emphasises the significance of safeguarding and bolstering media freedom and pluralism in Italy. Although it recognises that there are legal safeguards, it also emphasises that problems with media ownership transparency, political interference in public service media, and strategic litigation against journalists continue to exist in a variety of ways. 

Institutional issues related to checks and balances

With regard to institutional checks and balances, the report sheds light on the shortcomings in the recommended constitutional reforms aimed at increasing the stability of the government. On 15 November 2023, the Government submitted a draft constitutional reform to the Parliament which was approved by the Senate on June 18, 2024. It aims to alter the conventional parliamentary system by introducing universal adult suffrage with respect to the election of the Prime Minister. Stakeholders believe that this might prove insufficient in the attempt to ensure more stability as it reduces the role of the President, especially during political crises.

The government's frequent use of legal decrees, which some stakeholders argue threatens the balance of power between the legislative and executive departments, is another issue raised by the ROL report. Law decrees are intended to be used in urgent and necessary situations and must be enacted by Parliament within 60 days, as stated in Article 77 of the Italian Constitution. However, according to the report, law decrees are being used increasingly; since October 2022, 59 law decrees have been adopted, 51 of which have become laws. Thus, there are worries that this restricts parliamentary debate and legislative scrutiny because it indicates that about 50% of laws adopted in Parliament start as government-issued decrees.

The Country Chapter also highlights the implementation of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings as a significant area of concern. Italy has 66 significant ECtHR verdicts pending implementation as of January 2024,which is a major increase compared to 2023. The report also highlights another ongoing problem in Italy's legal system— the excessive duration of court processes. There has also been no progress in the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution despite the 2023 Report recommendation to ‘continue efforts to establish a National Human Rights Institution taking into account the UN Paris Principles’. Thus, the report points out that no progress has been made to implement the recommendation from the previous RoL Report. 

Recommendations 

The report provides several recommendations to Italy which are aimed at improving the current rule of law situation in the country. The proposed recommendations in the 2024 report are:

• Italy should continue with its efforts to improve the digitalisation of criminal courts and prosecutors’ offices.
• Create a legislative footprint to monitor lobbying activities and comprehensive lobbying regulations to establish an operational lobbying register.
• Italy is recommended to address the practice of directing donations through political groups and foundations in an efficient and timely manner and establish a single computerised register for party and campaign financial data. 
• It should step up its efforts to create a National Human Rights Institution according to the Paris Principles.
• Italy should make sure policies or procedures are in place to ensure the independence of public service media and to provide funding that is suitable for the fulfilment of its service mandate.
• Finally, Italy should continue the legislative process on the draft reform on defamation, professional confidentiality, and journalistic sources without endangering press freedom, and making sure it incorporates European norms for journalist protection.