Administrative Centralization and Italian Citizenship: Impacts of A.C. 2369-A
A.C. 2369-A, approved by the Parliament of the Italian Republic, promotes a structural reorganization of administrative services aimed at Italian citizens residing abroad, with direct repercussions on the procedure for the recognition of Italian citizenship by descent (iure sanguinis), whose substantive regulation remains anchored in Law No. 91 of 5 February 1992. The bill does not alter the legal foundation of the right to original citizenship, which is expressly enshrined in Article 1, paragraph 1, letter (a), of the aforementioned law¹, preserving the logic of the automatic transmission of status civitatis through the line of filiation, as repeatedly emphasized during the parliamentary debates held in the Camera dei Deputati, within the XIX Legislature, when examining the base text of A.C. 2369-A before the I Commissione (Affari Costituzionali).
The amendments introduced are concentrated on the procedural and organizational level of the Italian Public Administration responsible for the verification and formalization of this right. The progressive centralization of competences previously exercised by consular authorities directly affects the model outlined in Article 12 of Law No. 91/1992, as well as in the implementing regulation approved by Presidential Decree (D.P.R.) No. 362 of 18 April 1994. This regulatory instrument establishes that the recognition of the possesso della cittadinanza italiana falls within the competence of the relevant Italian municipality or the diplomatic or consular authority for residents abroad², an attribution extensively debated in the resoconti stenografici of the I Commissione (Affari Costituzionali) of the Camera dei Deputatiduring the sessions dedicated to the examination of A.C. 2369-A, in which the need to overcome decision-making fragmentation among consulates was expressly highlighted.
A.C. 2369-A redefines this framework by shifting decision-making authority to a central administrative structure linked to the Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale, thereby altering the consolidated administrative practice developed under Articles 1 to 3 of D.P.R. No. 362/1994. The regulation provides that the competent authority must verify the existence of the requirements and the continuity of citizenship³ and that the procedure must be concluded by an express administrative act⁴—elements expressly mentioned in the parliamentary debates of the Camera dei Deputatiand, subsequently, of the Senato della Repubblica, within the scope of the III Commissione (Affari Esteri e Difesa), as grounds for centralization and decision-making standardization.
With regard to the protection of acquired rights, the reform directly engages with Article 7 of Law No. 91/1992⁵. In the resoconti stenografici of the Senato della Repubblica during the XIX Legislature, the legislator reiterated that the strengthening of documentary controls and procedural reorganization does not alter the original nature of iure sanguiniscitizenship, being limited to ensuring the correct verification of the continuity of the legal bond along the line of descent.
The integration of the Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all'Estero (AIRE) into the Anagrafe Nazionale della Popolazione Residente (ANPR), as provided for in the approved text, likewise produces effects on the application of D.P.R. No. 362/1994, particularly with regard to institutional communication between central authorities and municipalities. The regulation itself establishes that acts and decisions relating to citizenship must be communicated to the competent municipalities for the necessary annotations⁶, an aspect repeatedly emphasized in parliamentary debates as essential to legal certainty and the reliability of the Italian registration system.
From a legal-systematic perspective, A.C. 2369-A confirms that Italian iure sanguinis citizenship remains an original right, recognized rather than granted by the State, in full coherence with the dogmatic structure of Law No. 91/1992.
Nevertheless, by centralizing competences, redefining procedural flows, and reinforcing mechanisms already provided for under D.P.R. No. 362/1994, the Italian legislator promotes a significant shift in the practical operationalization of this right, as clearly recorded in the resoconti stenografici of the Camera dei Deputati and the Senato della Repubblicathroughout the legislative process of the XIX Legislature.
Footnotes
Legge 5 febbraio 1992, n. 91, art. 1, comma 1, lett. a: "È cittadino per nascita il figlio di padre o di madre cittadini".
D.P.R. 18 aprile 1994, n. 362, art. 1: "Il riconoscimento del possesso della cittadinanza italiana spetta al comune italiano competente ovvero all'autorità diplomatica o consolare per i residenti all'estero".
D.P.R. 18 aprile 1994, n. 362, art. 2: "L'autorità competente accerta la sussistenza dei requisiti e la continuità della cittadinanza".
D.P.R. 18 aprile 1994, n. 362, art. 3: "Il procedimento si conclude con un provvedimento espresso".
Legge 5 febbraio 1992, n. 91, art. 7: "Salvo quanto disposto dall'articolo 3, la cittadinanza italiana non si perde se non nei casi espressamente previsti dalla legge".
D.P.R. 18 aprile 1994, n. 362, art. 4: "Gli atti e i provvedimenti relativi alla cittadinanza sono comunicati ai comuni competenti per le necessarie annotazioni".
André Bezerra Meireles
Attorney and International and Corporate Legal Consultant