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. Policy setting and scrutiny procedures are a prerogative exercised by each House and/or each MP.

1. PARLIAMENTARY POLICY
SETTING, FACT-FINDING
AND SCRUTINY ACTS
CONFIDENCE VOTE, MOTIONS, RESOLUTIONS,
ORDERS OF THE DAY, QUESTIONS AND
INTERPELLATIONS
November 2017

2. 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.

3. 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
theparliamentarymembersoftheHouseorSenate.Theno-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.

4. 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
assumesthepoliticalresponsibilitytodivergefromthespecificguideline
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.

5. 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.

6. 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-
actingpositivelytotheMayor’srequest
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
municipalmarketandwastecollection.

7. 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’becauseitisamanifestationofintentratherthan
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

8. 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.

9. 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”.

10. 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

11. 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 House
PROCEDURE 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

12. 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
MPsbelongingtothemajority
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

13. ... 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.
AccordingtotheparliamentaryRulesofProceduretheGovernment
has to reply within 20 days;
an oral answer. The catalogue number is 3 for Questions to the
Assembly and 5forQuestionstotheCommittee.Aftertheprocedure
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

14. 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
askingtheGovernmenteventhemostbizarrequestions.Forexample:
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

15. 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

16. Since 1997 Italy has adopted the question time procedure, similar
to the UK one. It involves posing a one-off, clear and concise question
abouturgentissuesand/orcurrentpoliticalaffairs.Queriesaresubmitted
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

17. 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...intherecentpastonlyProdiin2007answered
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.

18. 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.

19. THE POWER OF A PARLIAMENTARY ENQUIRY
Article 82 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic specifies that each
Housemay 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.
Article82alsospecifiesthat“TheCommitteeconductsitsinvestigations
and examinations with the same powers and the same limitations as
the judicial authority”.
continued

20. 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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