2024 European Parliament election in Italy

In the 2019 European Parliament election in Italy, the right-wing populist League (Lega) of Matteo Salvini arrived first with 34.3% of the vote and 29 seats, followed by the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) with 22.7% and 19 seats.^[3][4][5] In the 2022 Italian general election, the national-conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) of Giorgia Meloni arrived first with 25.9% of the vote for the Chamber of Deputies, inside the centre-right coalition, followed by the PD with 19.0%, inside the centre-left coalition. This resulted in the establishment of the Meloni government,^[6] which was widely described as the most right-wing since World War II and continued to lead in the opinion polling for the next Italian general election.^[7][8][9]

The ongoing Qatargate corruption scandal, which began in December 2022, destabilised the European Parliament following the arrest of several MEPs including Marc Tarabella, Andrea Cozzolino, and Eva Kaili. Among others, the case includes Francesco Giorgi, the parliamentary assistant of MEP Andrea Cozzolino, Antonio Panzeri, founder of the Fight Impunity non-governmental organisation (NGO); Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, head of the No Peace Without Justice NGO; and Luca Visentini, head of the International Trade Union Confederation.^[10][11]

In January 2023, MEP Carlo Fidanza of FdI was involved in a corruption investigation by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office for having made Brescia city councillor Giovanni Acri resign in order to get Giangiacomo Calovini elected in exchange for the appointment of Acri's son as Fidanza's assistant in the European Parliament.^[12] Calovini was then elected member of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy at the 2022 general election for FdI. In June 2023, Fidanza and Calovini plea bargained with the Milan Public Prosecutor to one year and four months for corruption, avoiding the disqualification from public office that would have been triggered by the Severino Law.^[13][14]

As the party-list proportional representation was the traditional electoral system of the First Italian Republic from its establishment in 1946 to 1994, it was adopted to elect the Italian members of the European Parliament (MEPs) since 1979. Two levels were introduced: a national level to divide the seats among parties and a constituency level to distribute them among candidates in open lists. Five constituencies were established, each including 2–6 Italian regions and each electing a fixed number of MEPs. At national level, seats are divided between party lists using the largest remainder method with Hare quota. Seats are allocated to parties and then to their most voted candidates. In the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament election in Italy, the Italian Parliament introduced a national electoral threshold of 4%. An exception was granted for parties representing some linguistic minorities as such lists can be connected with one of the major parties through apparentment, combining their votes, provided that those parties reach the 4% threshold and that candidates from minority parties obtain a sufficient number of votes, no less than 50,000 for the main candidate. Every political party that intends to take part in the election must collect at least 30,000 to 35,000 signatures of eligible voters for each constituency, of which at least 3,000 signatures for each region; however, the following lists are exempted from the collection of signatures: all the lists that have at least one group in the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate of the Republic, all the lists that contested themselves in the last political election with their own symbol and that have elected at least one parliamentarian, all the lists that contain the symbol of a list already exempted from the collection of signatures, and the lists that refer in the symbol to a European political party or a party of another nation within the European Union that has elected at least one MEP at the last European elections. The latter condition was established in 2019 by the Electoral Offices of the constituencies.^[15][16]

In 2023, the Regional Council of Sardinia unanimously approved a proposal to split the Italian Islands constituency into Sicily and Sardinia due to the population disproportion between the two Italian regions. As of May 2023, the proposal is under discussion in the Senate of the Republic.^[18][19] In July 2023, it was informally proposed to lower the electoral threshold from 4% to 3%, the same electoral threshold used for the political elections. This proposal was welcomed by Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) and Us Moderates (NM). FdI did not shut it down since they wanted to help FI, whose future seemed uncertain after the death of Berlusconi, while Lega and IV declared themselves against the proposal. The proposal was officially rejected in September when Forza Italia, fearing the centrist competition of Az and IV, refused to lower the electoral threshold.^[20][21][22]

According to the regulations for the 2019 European Parliament election, parties may be exempted from collecting signatures under certain circumstances, including having their own group in the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate of the Republic, having elected at least one MP with their symbol in the last general election, having a logo that contains the logo of another party already exempted from collecting signatures, and having lists that refer to a European party or a party of another nation within the European Union that has elected at least one MEP in the last European elections.^[23] In 2014, the Electoral Offices of the constituencies granted exemption to the European Greens – Green Italia list, as the list was affiliated with a European political party represented in the European Parliament with its own parliamentary group.^[24] In 2019, the Electoral Offices of the constituencies established a condition that permits certain parties to participate in European elections through any party in Europe that elected at least one MEP in any European country.^[25]

In February 2024, FdI proposed an amendment to the Elections Decree in the Senate of the Republic. The amendment aimed to clarify the interpretation given by the Electoral Offices of the constituencies in 2019. It was suggested that parties that had elected at least one MEP in Italy at the last elections would be exempt. Additionally, it was proposed that only lists that had elected at least one member of the Italian Parliament (MP) in the proportional representation system (Italian electoral law of 2017) at the 2022 general election would be exempt. This exclusion would apply to parties that had elected an MP in a single-member constituency (Italian: collegio uninominale) with their party logo.^[26] After criticism from some parties, such as +Eu, South calls North (ScN), and Popular Alternative (AP), with the first two parties having elected an MP only in a single-member constituency, the amendment was revised to provide an exemption for all parties that have elected an MP, whether in a proportional representation or a single-member constituency.^[27][28] On 7 March 2024, the Constitutional Affairs Committee in the Senate of the Republic approved the amendment.^[29]

The following table lists the top candidates of each party/list in the five constituencies.

On 8 January 2024, Salvini announced that he would not run for the next European Parliament. He also praised Roberto Vannacci, an Italian Army general who became notorious in the summer of 2023 for writing a political book containing statements considered homophobic, racist, and sexist by some while on duty.^[105][106] An internal disciplinary procedure was opened against him by the Italian Army to investigate possible disciplinary offences.^[107] Vannacci said he would consider a candidature for the European elections.^[108] On 25 April, Salvini announced that Vannacci accepted to run as a candidate in all constituencies.^[109]

Paolo Gentiloni, the outgoing European Commissioner for Economy, turned down the chance to stand as a candidate for the European Parliament.^[110]

Meloni, the leader of FdI and 68th Prime Minister of Italy, said during a press conference that she was considering running in the election.^[111] According to Article 122 of the Italian Constitution and to Article 6 of the Access Initial Legal Act approved by the European Parliament, the office of Prime Minister is incompatible with that of MEP, therefore Meloni should immediately resign as MEP.^{[112][113][114]} Berlusconi was the only italian incumbent Prime Minister to run as a candidate for the European elections in 1994, 2004, and 2009, resigning as MEP after the elections due to incompatibility with the office of Prime Minister.^[115][116]

On 14 January 2024, Emma Bonino declined to stand as a candidate for the election;^[117] she changed her mind on 20 April 2024.^[118] On 25 January 2024, Federico Pizzarotti, president of +Eu, announced his desire to run as a candidate.^[119] On 22 January 2024, Calenda unveiled on the party website the first candidates for the election: MEP Giosi Ferrandino, Caterina Avanza, Alessio D'Amato, Cristina Lodi, Mario Raffaelli, and Giuseppe Zollino.^[120][121]

Lega leader Matteo Salvini repeatedly called for the formation of an alternative majority in the European Parliament that included the groups of the European People's Party (EPP), European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and Identity and Democracy Party (ID), like the centre-right coalition that won the 2022 Italian general election. on 7 December 2023, Salvini organised an ID convention in Florence, where he criticised the European Green Deal, accusing the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) of "illegally occupying" the European Commission. For his part, Antonio Tajani, the new leader of Forza Italia (FI) following the death of historic party leader Silvio Berlusconi in June 2023, criticised Salvini's idea, not considering an alliance with Marine Le Pen of the National Rally (RN), Geert Wilders of the Party for Freedom (PVV), and Alternative for Germany (AfD) possible.^[122][123]

In an interview with ZDF on 6 August 2023, the EPP president Manfred Weber praised the Meloni government, suggesting a possible alliance with FdI for the next election. He drew a red line with three conditions to fulfill: the support for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War, the willingness to build Europe and not destroy it, and the acceptance of the rule of law, denying at the same time an alliance with AfD, RN, or PiS; at the same time, Markus Söder, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) leader, turned down any alliance with FdI.^[124][125] Former German Minister of Justice Katarina Barley accused Weber of opening up to the far right in Europe.^[126] During the press conference held on 5 January 2024, Meloni said there are "insurmountable distances" with AfD but praised Le Pen.^[127]

After the break-up of the Third Pole, an electoral coalition formed in 2022 between Action (Az) and Italia Viva (IV), there were concerns that there was a risk of presenting three lists belonging to the same Renew Europe (Renew) group without any of the three lists being able to pass the threshold, thus not electing any MEPs.^[128] Stéphane Séjourné, the president of Renew, publicly appealed in May 2023 to both parties to stand together at the next European elections so as to elect "as many MEPs from the Renew Europe group as possible".^{[129][130][131]} Disagreements between Az leader Carlo Calenda and IV leader Matteo Renzi hindered the birth of a common list; Renzi announced the break-up of the common groups at the Italian Parliament and the birth of a list called The Centre, while Calenda expressed his opposition to run again with Renzi. Calenda had also broken the federation with More Europe (+Eu) in August 2022, preferring to ally himself with IV to create the Third Pole, and he had also stood as a candidate in the same constituency as +Eu founder Emma Bonino, ending up favouring the centre-right coalition candidate who then won the single-member constituency.^{[132][133][134]}

On 30 September 2023, Riccardo Magi, the secretary of +Eu, announced that his party would run as United States of Europe.^[135] On 13 December 2023, the National Direction of +Eu approved talks with the other Italian liberal parties for a list supporting a federal Europe.^[136] On 15 December 2023, Bonino published on La Stampa a manifesto, calling for the United States of Europe.^[137] The manifesto was signed by individual people like Base Italia leader Marco Bentivogli,^[138] Giusi Nicolini,^[139] Sandro Gozi,^[140] Nathalie Tocci, and Renato Soru,^[141] and parties like IV.^[142]

On 31 January 2024, Bonino published an article in Il Sole 24 Ore announcing a convention for the United States of Europe list open to all parties for 24 February 2024 in Rome.^[143] The goal was to launch a list that did not contain individual party symbols on its logo and that party leaders would not run for the European Parliament election.^[144] Despite supporting the manifesto, Renzi announced that he would run in all constituencies.^[145] Following the convention on 24 February 2024, there were differences of opinion between Az and IV. Magi requested a brief period of reflection to come to an agreement on a single list.^[146][147] On 7 March 2024, +Eu issued a statement advocating for a unified list that includes all three liberal parties, otherwise each party would need to act independently.^[148]

In November 2023, former Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno launched a right-wing party called Independence, saying he was thinking about running for the European Parliament election.^[149] In February 2024, television host Michele Santoro presented a left-wing list named Peace, Land, Dignity.^[150]

← Summary of 8–9 June 2024 European Parliament election results in Italy →

Results by party Results by EP group
Party		EP group	Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Brothers of Italy (FdI)	ECR	6,733,906	28.76	+22.32	24 / 76	+18
	Democratic Party (PD)	S&D	5,646,332	24.11	+1.37	21 / 76	+2
	Five Star Movement (M5S)	The Left	2,336,251	9.98	−7.08	8 / 76	−16
	Forza Italia – Us Moderates (FI–NM)	EPP	2,244,678	9.59	+0.81	8 / 76	+1
	League (Lega)	PfE	2,100,658	8.97	−25.29	8 / 76	−21
	Greens and Left Alliance (AVS)	Greens/EFA The Left	1,588,168	6.78	+2.71	6 / 76	+6
	United States of Europe (SUE)	None	883,914	3.77	+0.66	0 / 76	±0
	Action – We Are Europeans (A–SE)	None	785,710	3.36	New	0 / 76	New
	Peace Land Dignity (PTD)	None	517,725	2.21	New	0 / 76	New
	Freedom	None	285,766	1.22	New	0 / 76	New
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)[180]	EPP	120,879	0.52	−0.01	1 / 76	±0
	Popular Alternative (AP)	None	91,395	0.39	−0.04	0 / 76	±0
	Sovereign Popular Democracy (DSP)	None	36,223	0.15	New	0 / 76	New
	Animalist Party – Italexit	None	29,525	0.13	−0.47	0 / 76	±0
	Valdostan Rally (RV)	None	14,457	0.06	New	0 / 76	New
Valid votes			23,415,587	94.65
Blank and Invalid votes			1,324,643	5.35
Totals			24,740,230	100.00
Electorate and voter turnout			51,214,348	48.31
Source: Ministry of the Interior

In what was the European Parliament election in Italian history with the lowest voter turnout (48.3% compared to the 54.5% of 2019),^[181] FdI emerged as the largest party with almost 29% of the votes.^[182] The results were thus seen as a victory for the incumbent Meloni government; however, the combined number of seats obtained by the most Eurosceptic and anti-European Green Deal government parties (FdI and Lega) was three seats lower than in 2019.^[183] Pro-Green Deal Italian representation was strengthened by the growth of the PD, while the M5S declined, leaving uncertainty about to which political group it would join in the European Parliament and whether it would do so;^[183] the M5S ultimately joined The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL, also reflecting its left-wing shift at the European level.^[5] The liberal and centrist parties and electoral lists narrowly failed to reach the 4% threshold.^[183]

As the parties suffering the most losses in terms of seats and votes,^[6] the League and M5S were seen as the biggest losers compared to the 2019.^[3][4] Compared to the 2022 general election results, even as they increased or held similar percentage points, all the government parties lost total votes.^[183] The only parties that gained more votes compared to 2022 were the PD and AVS, which together surpassed FdI.^[183] The youth vote among those under 30 in Italy favoured the Progressive Camp of the PD, M5S, and AVS at 51%.^[183]