Why Meloni is keeping Italy’s citizenship referendum quiet

Good morning. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz seems to have passed the Oval Office test at his meeting with US President Donald Trump yesterday, with the two bonding over their dislike of Merz’s predecessor Angela Merkel, and Trump assuring he would keep US troops in Germany — but also cracking a second world war-related joke.

Today, our Rome bureau chief previews a crucial referendum in Italy, and our tech correspondent runs through a proposal to pause the EU’s landmark AI rules.

Have a great weekend.

Power of the vote

Italians are being called to vote this weekend in a referendum on granting faster citizenship, as well as on several labour law tweaks that unions say will boost workers’ protection.

But analysts predict voter turnout will be too low for the results to count, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition — which opposes the changes — has urged people to avoid the polls, writes Amy Kazmin.

Context: Italy’s postwar constitution allows citizens to repeal laws through referendums, part of the elaborate system of checks and balances devised after Benito Mussolini’s fascist rule. For results to be binding, more than 50 per cent of eligible voters must cast ballots.

In the vote on Sunday and Monday, citizens are being asked to repeal a 1992 law that doubled how long people must wait to apply for Italian citizenship. If revoked, people could seek naturalisation after just five years in Italy instead of ten. Other proposed labour law changes are being hailed by unions as strengthening workers’ rights.

Meloni’s right-wing coalition has been criticised for urging voters to abstain and refusing to engage in debates on the proposals, which have received scant media coverage.

“Many people don’t know about it. There is a lack of information,” said Roberto D’Alimonte, a political scientist at Rome’s Luiss University. “It’s a strategic decision. If you are against repealing the laws, it is better to tell your voters not to turn out to vote, rather than to turn out and vote no.”

Historically, some Italian referendums have had a high turnout — and a decisive impact.

In 1946, a majority of Italians voted to abolish the monarchy and turn the country into a republic.

In a 1974 referendum on divorce, legalised for the first time just three years earlier, nearly 60 per cent of Italians voted in favour — a shocking blow to conservative divorce opponents who wanted the law repealed.

Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s dream of restarting nuclear power was thwarted by a referendum in which citizens voted overwhelmingly to repeal new laws permitting nuclear power plants to operate.

Even if the turnout this time is low, D’Alimonte believes referendums will remain important political tools. “People don’t use it unless there is something very, very relevant,” he said.

Chart du jour: Killer weed

The head of the EU’s drugs monitoring agency has warned that some cannabis circulating in the bloc today is five times stronger than “the pot that was smoked at Woodstock”.

Time out?

EU digital ministers are meeting today to ponder whether to pause the bloc’s landmark Artificial Intelligence Act, as the bloc walks the tightrope between regulating the technology and attracting investment, writes Barbara Moens.

Context: Brussels is struggling with the enforcement of its new AI rules, which are considered the world’s strictest regime regulating the rapidly evolving technology, amid intense lobbying by Big Tech and the EU’s war on red tape.

The European Commission has missed its May deadline for a “code of practice” which would provide guidance on implementing the rules, which will apply to powerful AI models such as Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Llama and OpenAI’s GPT-4.

Today, EU ministers will discuss feedback from industry gathered by Poland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

One of the ideas laid out in a note by the Poles is to postpone the application dates of the AI Act and some other digital legislation. The main provisions of the AI Act would normally take effect in August.

However, three EU diplomats said this is only a suggestion by stakeholders, and that today’s discussion is unlikely to lead to any concrete decisions.

Dariusz Standerski, state secretary at Poland’s digital affairs ministry, stressed the “pause button” was only a suggestion, not a formal proposal.

Standerski told the FT that stopping the clock on the AI Act would only be a good idea if that time is used “wisely” to find solutions for industry players, such as deleting double reporting obligations or looking at the overlap between the AI Act and the EU’s data privacy rules.

The EU’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen yesterday said she wants to implement the AI Act in an “innovation-friendly manner” but did not comment on a pause.

What to watch today

1. EU telecommunications ministers meet.

2. EU Council president António Costa meets Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

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