Abstract

The present article deals with the legal consequences for Italian local and regional authorities after the entering into force of the 'Reinforced Law' no. 243/2012, implementing the Constitutional Amendment no. 1/2012 that introduced the balanced budget rule into the Italian Constitution. The analysis is carried out taking into consideration two different aspects: the law provisions' adherence to the Constitutional Amendment's criteria and their effects on financial autonomy. As for the first, the author asserts that many provisions establishing budget constraints may still be modified through ordinary law. As for the second, he maintains that the law has not particularly strengthened State's powers over local and regional authorities.