The state of emergency should end from 1 April: stop decrees and Dpcm, but also downsize CTS and Figliuolo’s commissioner structure.
On March 31, the state of emergency for Covid, which the second Conte government declared for the first time in Italy on January 31, 2020. At the moment, it seems that any further extension beyond these 26 months is out of the question, as data on the development of the epidemic has improved significantly in Recent weeks and the government that seems ready to loosen restrictions more and more. So what will happen as of April 1st? The government will no longer have the extraordinary range of powers to evade the law, using tools like decrees and Dpcm. Therefore, the remainder of the color scheme for regions and the additional powers granted to their bosses in recent months will also disappear.
In the absence of an emergency legal framework, the structure of the Commissioner General Francesco Paolo Vigliolo, together with the Scientific Technical Committee, must also be terminated. Intervention mechanisms against the epidemic will slow down, even if some of the measures currently in place in the country are not completely overcome. Green certification can be relaxed, for example, from April on outdoors, with the abolition of controls for tables outside bars and restaurants, but also for participation in team sports. Therefore, in retrospect, the obligation to wear the mask can be caused to be overcome indoors.
The end of the emergency, from pandemic to endemic
Meanwhile, the most important phase of the emergency in the rest of Europe has already ended. In countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden, the green corridor has practically been abolished. Draghi’s CEO doesn’t seem to want to speed up times as in these countries, but the idea nonetheless is to regard the pandemic as more and more endemic. In this sense, Spain, led by Pedro Sanchez, has already acted. Therefore, in France and Germany, most of the restrictive measures have not yet been withdrawn, but there is already a roadmap for moving away from the restrictions.
What happens if the state of emergency for Covid is not extended
Government Powers
By state of emergency in Italy we mean that the legal requirement is determined by exceptional events. In these cases, the government is granted a series of extraordinary powers to protect citizens, in violation of the law. Of course, we must always respect the general principles of the legal system, but we can go ahead with decrees like those of the Ministry of Health on the color of areas and the structure of the commissioner to quickly manage the vaccination campaign. Once the state of emergency is lifted, bureaucratic procedures slow down, and it will be more difficult (though not impossible) to impose more restrictive measures.
Stop the emergency via Figliolo and Cts?
In theory, the cessation of the state of emergency also means the abolition of the Scientific Technical Committee. The body, which currently consists of 11 people, is coordinated by the President of the Higher Council of Health, Franco Locatelli, and its spokesperson Silvio Brusaferro, President of the Higher Institute of Health. The role of CTS is to advise and support coordination activities to overcome the Covid emergency. However, without an emergency, it cannot be completely eliminated, but only reduced. The commissioner also risks disappearing, even if General Vigliolo remains at the helm of the vaccine logistics machine, planning all doses without any urgency.
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