Abstract

An analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian constitutional order has to focus on the relations between the State and the Regions during the crisis. The pandemic crisis was a national one, although it affected Italian Regions unequally. Furthermore, healthcare represents the core of regional policies: for this reason, Regions almost inevitably came to the forefront during the crisis. This article looks into the regional response to the COVID-19 crisis against the background of the relations between the State and the Regions. The article is divided into three parts. First, it focuses on the most important legal tools during the crisis, the Prime Minister’s decrees, and their impact on the Italian regional model. Second, it focuses on how, in legal terms, the state and regional acts dealing with COVID-19 can coexist. Third, it presents and discusses the measures adopted by the presidents of the Regions for this purpose. In doing so, the chapter focuses on three cases: Lombardy, Veneto, and Campania.