Decentralisation policy, autonomy and fiscal federalism

Over the last period of fifteen years, fiscal decentralisation has been one of the main topics of the Italian economic policy. The system of sub-national government finance has undergone substantial changes especially with the 2001 constitutional reform. The paper examines the recent spending and revenue levels of regional and local governments, the main problems of implementation of the 2001 constitutional reform and the proposals of further reinforcement of the ongoing decentralisation process. The concluding comments look at this process critically.