La situazione di criticità finanziaria degli enti locali nell’ordinamento italiano, in Istituzioni del federalismo

This paper examines the Italian regulatory framework governing the financial criticalities of local authorities, tracing its evolution from the late 1980s to the most recent reforms. After outlining the constitutional context shaped by the reforms of 2001 and 2012, which introduced the principles of financial autonomy, balanced budget and debt sustainability, the analysis focuses on the graduality of the instruments provided by Title VIII of the Consolidated Act on Local Authorities (TUEL): from structural deficit (Art. 242) to the multi-year rebalancing procedure (Art. 243-bis, so-called "pre-insolvency"), guided insolvency and ordinary insolvency (Art. 244). The paper also addresses the new agreements for situations of financial criticality introduced in the post-pandemic period for large cities, and discusses the central role of the Court of Auditors as well as the system of liability for administrators. Finally, it reflects on the recent ECtHR rulings — including the decision of 16 January 2025 — which have affirmed the State's responsibility for the debts of insolvent local authorities, concluding that a comprehensive reform of Title VIII TUEL is now necessary to overcome the asymmetries that risk paralysing the system.