Alternativa Popolare admitted to the European elections: a courtroom victory for Stefano Bandecchi’s list

The National Electoral Office at the Court of Cassation has accepted the appeal filed by Alternativa Popolare, led by Stefano Bandecchi, allowing the list to participate in the upcoming European elections. This decision comes after Ap appealed against its exclusion from the central constituency by the Court of Appeal in Rome, which instead admitted Ap’s list in the Naples constituency. According to the National Electoral Office, the Alternativa Popolare list meets the necessary requirements for affiliation with a European political party forming a parliamentary group in the European Parliament during the current legislature, thus ensuring its participation in the elections for the European Parliament in Italy. It is worth noting that Ap is affiliated with the Epp and has the name ‘Epp’ in its symbol.

The National Electoral Office at the ‘Palazzaccio’, considered the last decree law passed by the Chambers, has justified its decision by explaining that there are “two distinct interpretative options, both plausible: one that requires two requirements for exemption (a seat already obtained in the European Parliament and certified affiliation with a group formed there); the other, in coherence with the previous text of the same fourth paragraph of article 12 and with the interpretative tradition formed by this Office in 2014, places the two requirements as alternative options.

The Office believes that the second interpretative option should be given precedence, considering it more in line with constitutional principles, as summarized by the notable decision no. 1 of 2014 by the Constitutional Court, and with Recommendation (EU) 2023/2829, which emphasizes the importance of electoral law stability for the integrity of electoral processes.

The Cassation Court concludes that it is unlikely that the legislator, during the 180-day period for collecting signatures, and especially only during the conversion of D.L. no. 7 of 2024, intentionally wanted to overturn the previous rules regarding exemption from signatures, establishing affiliation as an additional requirement only for parties or political groups already represented in the European Parliament, while excluding it for those already represented in one of the two Chambers of the Italian Parliament.