Reddito 2.0, nuclear power and, of course, no weapons for Kyiv: the M5S consults its grassroots supporters on the Campolargo programme

"Radically change Italy’s and Europe’s failed approach to the war in Ukraine. Continuing to send weapons means pushing peace further away. A shift in the negotiating strategy is needed to safeguard the interests of the country under attack, with the involvement of the entire international community.” This is one of the points that members of the M5S will be voting on from today until Sunday on the Movement’s platform, before it is put forward to the progressive coalition’s negotiating table. There are twenty thematic areas: the seventeenth, entitled ‘Italy rejects war’, also sets out in writing a ‘No’ to the REARM EU plan and a ‘No’ to increasing defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. The consultation aims to set out in black and white “what the government must do over the next five years to tangibly improve people’s lives”, that is to say, “the M5S’s proposal to the progressive coalition”, “an alliance for the Constitution”. 

This marks the final stage of Nova, “a long and valuable piece of work carried out by the National Council, which has taken into account the findings of the participatory process we have been engaged in over recent months,” explained M5S leader Giuseppe Conte. “The document” put to the vote “is a political summary that takes into account the contributions of the more than 17,000 citizens involved in local events – both members and non-members of the Five Star Movement – the outcome of the online deliberative process, as well as the political activity already carried out by the Five Star Movement in recent years”.

The ceasefire in Ukraine is the issue on which the entire broad coalition must reach a consensus ahead of the elections. “We will discuss the joint programme with all our allied forces; I am certain we will reach agreement on everything, through dialogue and with a shared responsibility to oust these right-wing parties that have failed economically and socially,” said PD Secretary Elly Schlein on the sidelines of an event in Rome, responding to questions on the subject. 

The M5S has put forward a number of proposals. These range from the reintroduction of the offence of abuse of office to the decriminalisation of the domestic cultivation of cannabis for personal use, from the approval of same-sex adoptions to a reduction in working hours whilst maintaining the same pay. Among these is also the establishment of the ‘Ministry of Migration Policy and Integration’. This proposal was put forward, among others, by the former Chief of Police, Franco Gabrielli, who, in an interview with Il Foglio, had emphasised the need for “a ministry for migration policies to deal with legal migration flows, repatriation and integration”. 

On the economic front, the M5S intends to “guarantee a statutory minimum wage that is automatically indexed and coordinated with the most representative collective bargaining agreements”. It also plans to introduce “a levy on windfall profits made in sectors characterised by exceptional returns resulting from extraordinary external events or dominant market positions, starting with energy, banking, insurance, the defence industry and major digital platforms”. There is, however, no reference to the Citizens’ Income: what was once one of the Movement’s flagship policies has in fact been transformed into ‘Income 2.0’, which provides for a ‘comprehensive review of the Inclusion Allowance (ADI) and the Training and Employment Support (SFL) to address their shortcomings and inefficiencies’. It also proposes to “update the Workers’ Statute to reflect the new economic and social context and the new technological challenges”.

In the energy sector, the Movement intends to reduce VAT on fuel from 22 to 10 per cent and bring electricity taxation into line with that of gas. The heading ‘Nuclear energy’ also appears: ‘We will invest in nuclear fusion research to develop more advanced technologies, to produce safer energy without waste’, the document states.