Referendum on the justice system: PD and M5S MEPs celebrate the victory of the “No” vote

Brussels – Following the unofficial confirmation of the “No” vote’s victory in the referendum on the separation of careers (with 58,309 out of 61,533 polling stations counted, 53.75 per cent of voters have voted against the constitutional amendments proposed by Giorgia Meloni’s government), the first reactions from Italian MEPs are coming in from Brussels. 

Among the first to comment on the referendum result was Brando Benifei, the Democratic Party’s representative and chair of the European Parliament’s EU-US delegation, who described today’s result as “an extraordinary, clear-cut, and unequivocal victory.” The MEP from Liguria emphasised that “Italians have rejected the Meloni government’s assault on our Constitution, sending a message that brooks no reply: justice does not bow to the wishes of the political powers that be.” Matteo Ricci, Benifei’s party colleague, also celebrated what he described as “a victory for the PD, Secretary Schlein and the opposition.” “Italians are defending the Constitution from a terrible justice reform,” added the former mayor of Pesaro. 

Giorgio Gori, former mayor of Bergamo and a Member of the European Parliament for the PD since 2024, analysed the range of factors that may have led to the “No” vote prevailing. “Behind the surge in turnout and the “No” vote, I also see a “sentiment” that has little to do with the separation of careers and more to do with Donald Trump, concerns about war, the fear of being in the hands of a domineering madman, with the consequences for bills, petrol prices, and everything else,” he wrote on X. “If Meloni is also paying the price for her closeness to Trump,” Gori continued, “I’d say she’s got a real problem, and it doesn’t end there.” 

The European delegation of the second-largest opposition party, the Five Star Movement, also celebrated “a clear and unequivocal victory for the ‘no’ vote, which is first and foremost a great victory for democracy.” According to the Five Star Movement’s MEPs, “the victory of the ‘No’ vote also represents a warning to the European institutions” because “too often in the past we have endured the silence and the pats on the back from the European Commission regarding the ongoing attacks on the rule of law in our country: the warning that Italian citizens have reiterated to the Meloni government and the entire EU is that there can be no compromises when rights and freedoms are at stake.” 

Finally, the European Green Party (EGP), of which the Italian group Europa Verde is a member, also celebrated the victory of the “No” vote. “This vote was a test for Giorgia Meloni’s government,” explained EVP co-president Vula Tsetsi, “and the Italians have dealt her a clear political defeat: this is an important and encouraging sign that there is growing resistance across Europe against attempts by Trump’s allies—from Meloni to Orbán—to weaken democratic institutions.” The other co-president, Ciarán Cuffe, echoed this view, stating that “Meloni is one of Trump’s closest allies, but now the tycoon’s policies are triggering an economic crisis for which Europeans are paying the price.” “That is why,” he concluded, “EU citizens are standing up to Trump’s circle of allies.”