CIVICUS discusses the results of a recent Italian referendum on citizenship and workers’ rights with Andrea Oleandri, Co-Executive Director of the Italian Coalition for Freedom and Civil Rights (CILD), a civil society network working to promote and protect civil liberties.
In June, Italian citizens, both in Italy and abroad, voted on five referendums to repeal citizenship and labour laws. The proposed changes included repealing parts of the Jobs Act, a set of labour laws introduced between 2014 and 2015, with the aim of strengthening worker protections, as well as reducing the legal residence period required for non-European Union (EU) citizens to apply for Italian citizenship from 10 to five years. Despite active promotion by civil society, the referendum failed to reach the required turnout.
