Description
Historical Origins
Historical roots of autonomy
The historical origins of autonomy in Trentino date back to the Middle Ages and are rooted in the condition of Alpine land. It was in that period that participatory self-government practices spread in the Alps, guaranteeing greater freedom to local communities and favouring the development of models of common management of resources. The Autonomy of Trentino nevertheless stems from its being a borderland, a hinge between cultures on the edge of the mountains. It is in this context that it acquires a historical identity where different ethnic groups mix.
1848-1946
The Autonomy Claim
The first autonomy claims for the Italian Tyrol were made by Trentino representatives in the National Assembly in Frankfurt in 1848. Part of the Austrian Empire first and then of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our territory claimed self-government on the basis of economic and political assumptions such as the extensive autonomy guaranteed to the municipalities and being a linguistic minority within the Tyrolean County. Left unanswered, these demands regained strength in liberal Italy and were again denied by Fascist centralism.
5 September 1946
De Gasperi-Gruber agreement and the first Autonomy Statute
The De Gasperi-Gruber agreement laid the foundations for the Autonomy realised in the First Statute of 1948. In the Second World War peace negotiations, Italy and Austria agreed on democratic protections and rights that the Italian State would guarantee to the German-speaking group within a territorial framework to be defined. This was to be the Trentino-Alto Adige Region, a territory with an Italian majority and part of a regional order contained in the Constitution and slowly implemented over the following decades.
The 1960s
The South Tyrolean question and the Trentino question
The crisis of the Trentino-South Tyrol region was mainly due to the greater autonomy demanded by the German-speaking group living in the province of Bolzano. The degeneration of ethnic relations, Austria's desire to reopen the territorial question, terrorism and the harsh reaction of the Italian authorities fortunately failed to exclude a political solution. The reform of the Statute at this point also poses a 'Trentino question' with respect to the role and functions of Trentino's provincial autonomy.
10 November 1971
Package and Second Autonomy Statute
The 137 measures agreed upon by the Italian and Austrian governments to resolve the South Tyrolean question make up the so-called "Pacchetto per l'Alto Adige", approved in 1969. This was the starting point for the approval of the reform of the Autonomy Statute with which the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Region was progressively emptied of functions and competences in favour of the Autonomous Provinces of Bolzano and Trento. It is these two new subjects that exercise Autonomy more fully.
1971-2001
Implementation of autonomy and extension of competences
In the face of the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Region's emptying out of functions and competences in favour of the two Autonomous Provinces, Trentino's Autonomy was gradually extended to more and more areas of public life. A form of self-government is thus configured that allows the province to legislate on practically every subject, with the exception of areas traditionally monopolised by the state such as public order, justice, social security and minting money.
2001-TODAY
Autonomy in the new millennium
The Autonomy guaranteed by the 1972 Statute has not always remained the same, but has been shaped by continuous negotiations with the State, which, depending on the contingencies, has sometimes deepened and sometimes diminished the areas of self-government. This happened both in the context of overall constitutional reforms concerning the republican regional order and during extraordinary events such as the 2008 economic crisis, the Coronavirus pandemic and the Vaia storm.
