Reform of the Third Sector: the third paragraph of art. 72 CTS violates the constitutional principle of loyal collaboration

The Constitutional Court, with the sentence no. 185/2018, published last October, ruled on the legitimacy issues promoted by the Veneto Region and the Lombardy Region of articles 61, paragraph 2; 62, paragraph 7; 64; 65 and 72 of the Third Sector Code.
The Veneto Region had raised the question of legitimacy of the art. 72 on the assumption that the dictation of this provision, regulating the methods of use and functioning of the resources of the "Fund for the financing of projects and activities of general interest in the Third Sector", would have had a significant impact on numerous areas of regional competence, becoming an instrument of interference by the State in the exercise of certain functions of local entities, thus determining a limitation of the entities' capabilities and autonomy.

The aforementioned Fund, aimed at supporting the performance of general interest activities of the ETS, promoting and financing new initiatives and projects, was set up at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies which, annually, through its own policy act, determines the general objectives, the priority areas of intervention and the lines of activity that can be financed within the limits of the available resources, is required to identify the subjects implementing the sustainable interventions through the resources of the fund.

On the merits, the Constitutional Court declared the validity of the question, however limiting the declaration of constitutional illegitimacy to only the third paragraph of the article which does not provide for any form of involvement of the Regions in the phase of determining the objectives and areas of intervention, thus causing an infringement of the principle of loyal collaboration established pursuant to art. 120 Const.
The Court recalls, in fact, that the state regulation of funding in matters falling under the regional legislative power can be compatible with the constitutional arrangement of the division of competences between the State and the Regions only if the funds are managed in compliance with the current forms of involvement of the Regions themselves. Involvement which, according to settled case law, should have its seat within the State-Regions Conference.