Italy's Cottarelli Pushes Law for Electoral Cost Transparency

Former IMF economist and ex‑senator Carlo Cottarelli, together with the Luigi Einaudi Foundation, has launched a bipartisan campaign for a bill (S.550) that would obligate Italian political parties to disclose the financing of all measures announced in their electoral programmes. The proposal aims to prevent unrealistic promises by requiring parties to detail how they will fund cuts, tax increases or new debt, improving voter information and democratic debate. Although the draft was assigned to the Senate constitutional affairs committee, it has not yet been debated.

A local branch of the Action party in Ferrara publicly supports the online signature collection, highlighting the involvement of senators Carlo Calenda and Marco Lombardo among the bill’s co‑signers. The Ferrara campaign urges citizens to sign the petition, arguing that transparency will raise the quality of political discourse and give voters clearer tools to assess proposals.