Mattarella marks 80 years of Paris Agreement and Trentino-Alto Adige autonomy

Origins of regional self-governance

On 5 September 2026, Italian President Sergio Mattarella attended official ceremonies in Trentino-Alto Adige to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. The event, held at the Teatro Sociale in Trento and in Merano under the title "1946-2026: 80 years of a Republic and a Special Autonomy", brought together national and regional officials. Mattarella described the eight decades since the agreement as a period of peace, European openness, and social solidarity that overcame past divisions. The celebration linked the creation of special autonomy directly to the 80th anniversary of the Italian Republic, established through the June 1946 constitutional referendum.

Diplomatic foundations after totalitarian rule

The legal framework for the territory emerged from the diplomatic agreement signed in 1946 by Italian Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi and Austrian Foreign Minister Karl Gruber. Mattarella explained that the accord settled border and minority disputes that had persisted since the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain. The post-war settlement specifically replaced the coercive ethnic policies of totalitarian regimes, notably the 1939 option agreement between Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler that forced German speakers to choose between relocation to Germany or total assimilation. On 14 June 1946, De Gasperi delivered a national radio address assuming provisional head of state duties and committing to a democratic republic for all citizens.

During his address to attendees at the Teatro Sociale, Mattarella situated regional self-rule as an active defence of democratic institutions against dictatorship.

The Republic and autonomies, and among them the special ones, are closely linked to each other and have nourished and marked the development of Italian democracy in opposition to fascism and in discontinuity with respect to the characteristics of pre-fascist Italy.

Minority protections and European integration

The De Gasperi-Gruber pact created specific guarantees for the linguistic identities of the German-speaking and Ladin populations in the region. Mattarella observed that the Italian Constitution later reinforced the principle that individuals should never feel like foreigners in their own homeland. Bilateral relations between Italy and Austria entered a new phase in 1995, when Austria acceded to the European Union and the Schengen Agreement took effect. Mattarella stated that open European borders transformed former natural and administrative obstacles into meeting points for neighbouring communities.

Statutory reform and local administration

Regional leaders and cabinet members focused on the practical governance responsibilities that accompany special autonomy. Maurizio Fugatti, the president of the Autonomous Province of Trento, stated that autonomy requires direct accountability to citizens and sustained civic participation rather than just financial transfers and regulatory powers. Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomies Roberto Calderoli praised the recent reform of the regional Statute, which resulted from negotiations between the central government and local administrations. Calderoli noted that the primary objective for the coming decades remains the effective implementation of these reformed powers across both provinces.