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Oskar Peterlini

Workshop: Are Minority Rights Majority Interests? Minority Quest in the Balkans and Eastern Europe in the Light of the

European Integration

Are Minority Rights Majority Interests? The experience of South Tyrol autonomy

Antall Jòzsef Knowledge Centre of Political and Social Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 13 and 14 March 2014

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Peterlini, O. (2014): Are Minority Rights Majority Interests? The experience of South Tyrol autonomy, Lecture and

seminar at the Workshop “Are Minority Rights Majority Interests? - Minority Quest in the Balkans and Eastern Europe in

the Light of the European Integration”, organized by Antall Jòzsef Knowledge Centre of Political and Social Sciences, for

eminent university students of the Central European Initiative (CEI) Member States and Western European countries, at

Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 13 and 14 March 2014.

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Table of Contents

1. Freedom – a lesson learnt with difficulties ............................................................................... 3

2. A gift from the founding fathers of Europe – 67 years of peace ............................................... 3 3. Reasons for the outbreak of international conflicts ................................................................... 4

4. Warning: “Perennial seeds of discord and revolt” .................................................................... 5 5. Hope after the war: self-determination ..................................................................................... 5

6. Internationally enshrined principles, a safeguard for the future ................................................ 6 7. The main points of the Treaty of Paris of 1946 ........................................................................ 6

8. Diffidence and suspicion chilled relations ................................................................................ 6

9. The night of bonfires ............................................................................................................... 7 10. The UN order: “Resume negotiations!” ................................................................................ 8

12. Provinces play a leading role in terms of autonomy .............................................................. 8 13. The secession temptation and the road to autonomy .............................................................. 9

14. Special autonomy – exceptions to a centralist context ......................................................... 10 15. Federal reform – greater autonomy for all ........................................................................... 10

16. Vision and hope.................................................................................................................. 11 17. My finals thesis which we should discuss ........................................................................... 12

1. Freedom – a lesson learnt with difficulties

In reading history books, one learns that, unfortunately, for thousands of years mankind has been

ravaged by battles and wars that took a heavy toll in terms of human lives and resources. Hidden

behind the historical data, behind the curtain of official scenes there are millions of human

tragedies, shattered families, men, women and children who died or were maimed in wars.

Sometimes we may wistfully remember the classical times of Mesopotamia, ancient Greece, the

Roman Empire and forget that the most important historical milestones were marked by extremely

cruel wars, such as the conquest of Troy, the conflicts between Sparta and Athens, the Persian

attacks, the destruction of Carthage in 202 B.C. and that of Corinth in 146 B.C. We recall the

crusades fought in the name of God (or rather as an affront to God), the wars between the peoples of

Europe, but also the wars in Italy and Germany, and those between feudal families struggling for

power.1

It seems that history has taught little or nothing to policy makers through the ages - since they have

continued and still continue to use weapons to gain power or solve conflicts. As if earthquakes and

tsunamis were not enough!

2. A gift from the founding fathers of Europe – 67 years of peace

Even though conflicts in the world continue on a daily basis – there is a glimmer of hope: Europe.

The lesson of history could no longer be ignored: after thousands of years in the battlefield, with

1 Gentile, G./ Ronga, L. (2005): Storia & Geostoria, vol. IV: Dalla metà dei Seicento alla fine

dell’Ottocento, La Scuola, Brescia, pages 64-71,

http://www.luzappy.eu/storia_intro/settecento.htm.

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two world wars in fifty years an unprecedented peak was reached. Millions of lives were lost, entire

populations were wiped out – the blood and tears that were shed were a turning point – at least for

the following half-century and at least in one part of the European continent.

We should not forget that wars were fought until recently in Eastern Europe.

However, the lesson has been learnt as never before in history, at least in Western Europe. For over

69 years we have been fortunate enough to live and experience the longest-ever period of peace.

The contribution to peace is probably the greatest gift given by the founding fathers of Europe to us

and hopefully to the future generations of Europe. Thanks also to the European integration process,

the States that up until the 1970s were under military dictatorship, such as Greece, Portugal and

Spain, could become stable democracies.

Eastern European countries, which for a long time were ‘walled in’ inside the Soviet bloc, were

excluded from this process. The hopes of freedom of peoples, nations, and ethnic minorities - forced

into artificial states held together by military force alone - were ignored.

In the fourth last part of the century, however, when history gave those peoples an opportunity to

lift themselves out of their situation; they revolutionized the whole of Europe.

The Iron Curtain, which was like a wound severing the heart of Germany, suddenly collapsed: it

was an event that took even the most visionary political scientists by surprise and thanks to which

many Eastern states found their national identity again.

3. Reasons for the outbreak of international conflicts

In an essay written in 1959, Kenneth N. Waltz, an American international relations theorist, tried to

analyze the causes of war2 and found three: he identified the first cause in the nature and character

of people, their selfishness, aggression and stupidity. The second level of his analysis focuses on the

internal organization of States and the idea that they need an external enemy in order to feel united.

The third level suggests that wars are the result of the international system, which is anarchic and

does not have a governing power.

In addition to these causes, there is another one, which continues to be a source of instability and

conflict: when state boundaries that do not match ethnic boundaries are drawn, ethnic minorities are

found both within the state territory and outside its borders”.

One of the main causes of the outbreak of international conflicts must be sought in the lack of

programs for the resolution of conflicts between different nationalities and ethnic minorities. This is

2 Waltz, K.N. (2001): Man, the State and War, Columbia University Press, New York, originally

published 1959.

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particularly evident in Eastern Europe and in the events that followed the collapse of the Soviet

Union.

Throughout history state borders and ethnic-group boundaries have rarely coincided. This has been

the cause of conflicts and of many wars and still unresolved problems of ethnic groups. Religious

and cultural reasons, on top of ethnic reasons, have sometimes concealed the true motives.

Therefore, finding a solution to the problems of minorities and nationalities is a challenge that can

eliminate these flashpoints and ensure peace.

4. Warning: “Perennial seeds of discord and revolt”

An evident case in point is South Tyrol, annexed to Italy after World War I and later named Alto

Adige. Tyrol, which in its century-long history developed as an autonomous land with its own

rights and liberties within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was torn apart and divided up. The

southern part was assigned to Italy, but not on the basis of the clearly recognisable language divide,

in line with the principles of American President Thomas W. Wilson.

In the name of Risorgimento and other patriotic principles authoritative voices argued against the

annexation. On 14 July, 1919 the MP Filippo Turati warned the Chamber of Deputies to reject “the

annexation of over 250.000 Germans, jealous of their ancestry, their homeland, their freedom –

which would sow perennial seeds of discord and revolt”.3

Then came the painful dictatorships of Mussolini and Hitler, the suppression of minority languages

and cultures, the closing down of German schools, the firing of German teachers and employees,

Italianisation and forced immigration. The campaign peaked in 1939 with the treaty signed in Berlin

by Hitler and Mussolini, which led to the so-called “options”, whereby the people of South Tyrol

had to vote on whether they wanted to remain in Italy or leave the country. Amid rampant Nazi

propaganda, a suffered decision was taken that divided entire families. The South-Tyrolean’s who

wanted to remain German had to migrate to Nazi Germany, while the others could remain in Italy

under the conditions imposed by the fascist regime.

5. Hope after the war: self-determination

After the war, in 1945, South Tyroleans asked to exercise their right to self-determination and tried

to achieve reunification with Austria, but Austria’s request to hold a referendum in South Tyrol was

rejected by the Allies on April 30, 1946. Soviet Foreign Minister Molotow was the first one to

3 Peterlini, O. (2000): Autonomia e tutela delle minoranze nel Trentino-Alto Adige, edizione aggiornata, Cenni di storia

e cultura, diritto e politica, Consiglio della Regione Autonoma Trentino-Alto Adige, Bozen/Bolzano/Trento.

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reject Austria’s request. He thought Yugoslavia’s requests concerning Friuli Venezia Giulia had to

be met first. 4

6. Internationally enshrined principles, a safeguard for the future

After long negotiations and following pressure exerted by many countries, the Paris Agreement

between Italy and Austria was finally signed on 5 September 1946 by Karl Gruber and Alcide De

Gasperi, included in the the peace treaty signed by Italy on 10 February 1947 in Paris. The

importance of this decision lies in the internationalisation of the South Tyrolean issue, as a result of

which Austria became a signatory to the Treaty of Paris.

7. The main points of the Treaty of Paris of 1946

Article 1 of the Treaty of Paris envisages that “the German-speaking inhabitants of the Bolzano

Province and of the neighbouring bilingual townships of the Trento Province will be assured a

complete equality of rights with the Italian-speaking inhabitants”. More specifically, Article 1

ensures, in addition to bilingual names of places, that German-speaking people are taught in their

native language and that German is considered on a par with Italian in public administration,

documents, etc.

By giving “the population of the above-mentioned zones (...) the exercise of an autonomous

legislative and executive regional power” Article 2 envisages true autonomy for these people.

Then a painful process leading to autonomy started: autonomy was at first denied and faked, violent

strife followed, as well as two UN Resolutions; it was only in 1992 that the process finally ended.

8. Diffidence and suspicion chilled relations

With constitutional law No. 5 of February 19, 1948, Italy issued the first Statute of Autonomy that

disappointed the expectations of South Tyroleans. The autonomy it envisaged was quite limited and

not in keeping with text of the Paris Agreement. Its scope was not limited to “the German-speaking

inhabitants of the Province of Bolzano and those in the neighbouring bilingual communities of the

Province of Trento” (as the text of the agreement read), but was extended to the whole Italian

Province of Trento. In the “Trentino Alto Adige” Region, which was established for the purpose of

the above extension and in German was called “Trentino-Tiroler Etschland” (thus not

acknowledging the name Südtirol), the German-speaking representatives were a clear minority and

could therefore not set their agendas autonomously. Within the regional autonomy two sub-

autonomies were envisaged for the Provinces of Bozen/Bolzano and Trento. However, both the

4 Magnago, S. (1976): 30 Jahre Pariser Vetrag, Steering committee of the SVP, Bozen/Bolzano.

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responsibilities and the powers of the two autonomous provinces were so limited that they could not

possibly be considered autonomous provincial authorities. “Diffidence and suspicion” – so wrote

Renato Ballardini – “gradually chilled the relations between the central power and the South

Tyroleans, leading to an endless, albeit small, trickle of acts of non-feasance, delayed issuance of

implementation provisions, absurd craftiness in the hair-splitting drafting of texts.” 5

9. The night of bonfires

In 1957 the Central Government in Rome announced a far-reaching council-housing programme for

Bozen/Bolzano, which led South Tyroleans to fear the arrival of a new wave of immigration from

other areas of Italy. Tension amidst the people continued to mount. After a peaceful mass rally in

1957,6 and a few individual isolated attacks, riots broke out in the night between 11 and 12 June

1961, the night of the traditional Sacred Heart Sunday - when Tyrol commemorates the long

freedom struggles against Napoleon’s troops by lighting symbolic bonfires in the mountains. That

night a new fuse was lit: 37 blasts damaged 37 high-tension power pylons.7

This was the start of those harsh years of violence, with persecutions, arrests and torture against

those in prison.8 The Südtiroler Volkspartei, The south Tyrolean Peoples Party, officially distanced

itself from the violence perpetrated by extremist terrorists.9 It was only after several years that

Silvius Magnago, who in the meantime had become President of the Province of Bozen/Bolzano,

granted the rehabilitation of the activists: ”No wonder that South Tyroleans, who realised over the

years that no progress had been made through democratic means, i.e. negotiations, lost their trust

in them.10

5 Ballardini, R. (1970): Report of the 1st Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Chamber of

Deputies, Parliamentary Proceedings, No. 2216-277 A, Camera dei Deputati, Roma, page 2. 6 Magnago, S. (1976): 30 Jahre Pariser, op. cit, p. 21.

7 Baumgartner, E./ Mayr, H./ Mumelter, G. (1992): Feuernacht, Südtirols Bombenjahre, Edition

Raetia, Bozen/Bolzano. Peterlini, H.K. (2005): Südtirols Bombenjahre. Von Blut und Tränen zum

Happyend, Edition Raetia. 8 Der Mailänder Prozess/Il processo di Milano nelle arringhe della difesa (A collection of

pleadings of the counsels of the Southtyrolean defendants in the bomb-attack trials), Casa editrice

Europa, Vienna 1969 9

Peterlini, H.K. (2011): Feuernacht, Südtirols Bombenjahre, Hintergründe, Schicksale,

Bewertungen 1961-2011, Edition Raetia Bozen; Baumgartner, E./ Mayr, H./ Mumelter, G. (1992):

Feuernacht, p. 244-270, more specifically on this refer to Strasser, W. (1967): Österreich und die

Vereinten Nationen, Braumüller Wien, pages 370 and 371 and Toscano, M. (1967): Storia

diplomatica della questione dell’Alto Adige-Südtirol, Laterza, Bari , page 5. Pages 536 - 538, 592

and 593. 10

Magnago, S. (1976): 30 Jahre Pariser Vertrag, op. cit, p. 33.

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10. The UN order: “Resume negotiations!”

In October 1960 and November 1961, on the initiative of Austria and other States, the UN General

Assembly addressed the issue of South Tyrol and the age-old problem of executing the Treaty of

Paris. The General Assembly urged the parties to resume negotiations to reach a settlement of all

controversies arisen after the Treaty of Paris of 1946.11

In September 1961 Italy set up a Study Committee on the Problems of Alto Adige, also known as the

“Committee of the Nineteen”. The Committee eventually came to a conclusion with the so-called

“Package” of measures for the people of South Tyrol, agreed in Copenhagen by Austrian Foreign

Minister Kurt Waldheim and his Italian opposite number, Aldo Moro, on 30 November 1969.

The Package was then adopted by the Italian Parliament in December 1969, and later by the

Nationalrat (Austria’s lower house of parliament) in Vienna.

11. The political and legal foundations: the Package and the Statute

The so-called Package contains 137 provisions, which were to be fulfilled partly by constitutional

law, through a reform of the Statute of Autonomy, and partly by implementing provisions and

ordinary laws as well as administrative provisions.

In order to implement the Package, Parliament enacted Constitutional Law No. 1/1971, 12

that

envisaged significant changes and integrations of the Special Statute of 1948. 13

The Statute of Autonomy has been given constitutional ranking in the hierarchy of sources, and, in

case of conflict between the two, the Statute of Autonomy shall prevail by virtue of its special

nature. Its implementation provisions come immediately under it in the hierarchy of laws, which are

in turn followed by ordinary laws and administrative acts.

12. Provinces play a leading role in terms of autonomy

The two autonomous Provinces of Bozen/Bolzano and Trento were given most of the

responsibilities. The Regional Authority is now a sort of framework, because it has been deprived

of a great deal of its original responsibilities.

11

United Nations, Resolutions, No. 1497 (1960) and No. 1661 (1961). The text of the Resolutions

is quoted in: Peterlini, O. (2000): Autonomia e tutela delle minoranze nel Trentino-Alto Adige, op.

cit., pages 92-95. 12

The reform of the Statute of Autonomy came into force on January 20, 1972, fifteen days after

being published in the Official Journale. 13

Presidential Decree of August 31, 1972 No. 670.

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Responsibilities for most areas have been transferred to the autonomous Provinces of Trento and

Bozen/Bolzano, which have come to play a leading role in terms of autonomy, since they are now

responsible for cultural, economic and many other social issues. The Provincial Councils legislate

on 90% of matters. Whether it be public works, roads (also state roads), hospitals or schools,

economic incentives in the various sectors or forms of social support, the salaries of teachers or

University funds, the protection of the environment or the preservation of the historical heritage,

sports or leisure time, it is the autonomous Province that takes action and provides funds; more

recently it has also started funding RAI radio and television programmes in German and Ladin, the

postal service and facilities such as prisons, which usually fall within the Government’s

responsibilities. 14

In line with fiscal federalism, 90% of funding is raised through the community’s tax revenues.

There are also provisions to protect language groups, such as the language proportion provision for

civil servant recruitment and employment in administrative bodies, and, besides the need criterion,

to ensure access to welfare services and council housing. Italian and German were both made

official languages, the Ladin language is protected in the Ladin valleys where it is spoken, while

tuition is provided by teachers belonging to the language groups of pupils.

13. The secession temptation and the road to autonomy

The SVP, which, since its birth in 1945 up until today, has been the biggest party of South Tyrolean

language minorities, pursued the way to autonomy. It never formally renounced the right to self-

determination, but realised that the only way that goal could be achieved was not through chasing a

right that could not be exercised, but through Realpolitik. However, his decision to seek autonomy

caused strong tensions within the party. The Südtiroler Heimatbund, the association of activists who

were imprisoned in the 1960s,15

and the most extremist wing of the party wanted the region to be

returned to Austria. Magnago, the historical leader, continued to reply to them that borders can be

changed either with the agreement of both countries or with a war. As it seemed impossible that

Italy would agree to a return of the region to Austria, also considering the Italian government’s

resistance to grant true autonomy over the years, the only option left was war. And Magnago, added

- not without irony - that wars cannot simply be started – they should be won.

14

Peterlini, O. (2010): L’autonomia che cambia, Gli effetti della riforma costituzionale del 2001

sull’autonomia speciale del Trentino Alto Adige Südtirol e le nuove competenze in base alla

clausola di maggior favore, Casa editrice Praxis 3 Bozen/Bolzano, pages.145-156. 15

http://www.suedtiroler-

freiheitskampf.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=44.

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However, the issue of self-determination risked causing a rift in the SVP, when in 1983 Eva

Klotz,16

the first-born of six children of Georg Klotz, an activist who had taken part in the 1960s

attacks, left the party to run for a seat in the Provincial Council as a member of the Südtiroler

Heimatbund. The "pasionaria" of South Tyrol, as she was dubbed by the Italian media, felt she had

to continue her father’s work through peaceful and democratic means, pursuing the goal of self-

determination for South Tyrol.

14. Special autonomy – exceptions to a centralist context

Trentino-South Tyrol is not the only Regional Authority with a special status. Since their inception

(with Art. 116 of the Constitution) special–status Regions have addressed special concerns and

issues arising for different historical, political and cultural reasons, the two bigger islands Sicily and

Sardinia and the border regions Trentino-South Tyrol, Valle d’Aosta and Friuli Venezia Giulia. One

of the reasons for their establishment was the wish to respond concerns about separatist tendencies

that developed after the war on the islands and in the border regions.

These five Regional Authorities were ”given special autonomous conditions, based on special

statutes adopted by constitutional laws”, as the wording of Art. 116 of the Constitution read in its

first version. Their far-reaching legislative and administrative responsibilities represent a notable

exception in Italy’s polity. They have a special position in constitutional law and run counter to the

rest of the State structure. However, their special position also gives rise to envy, especially among

those who are not familiar with the true reasons for the special character they have.

While in federal States its internal parts belong to a federal context and form an organic part of the

State, Italy’s special-status Regions are often at odds with the centralist principles of a State, where

they are not the rule, but the exception.

The many-year long struggle to achieve South Tyrol’s autonomy is an obvious example of this

fiction. Sicily’s special statute was drawn up and became part of Italy’s legal system as early as in

1946, before the Constitution was drafted, precisely for separatist reasons, and (at least on paper) it

envisages much further-reaching responsibilities than South Tyrol’s. However, in actual fact, Sicily

has enjoyed less leeway and has obtained a degree of autonomy which, though formally greater, is

actually smaller.

15. Federal reform – greater autonomy for all

Since the 1980s and 1990s several attempts have been made in the way of a federal reorganisation

of the Italian State. After a series of unsuccessful events, in 2001 Italy succeeded in carrying

16

http://www.consiglio-bz.org/de/abgeordnete/klotz.asp.

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through a constitutional reform,17

which did not turn it into a federal state similar to the US or

Austria, Germany and Switzerland, but introduced some key federal principles.

Thus, thanks to Italy’s federal development, the autonomous Regions have obtained more extensive

autonomous rights and powers than those conferred upon them in their respective Statutes.18

What were once absolute exceptions within a centralist state, with which they are at odds; the

autonomous Regions are now becoming forerunners of a new, more federal system.

16. Vision and hope

The degree of autonomy thus achieved certainly does not meet all the demands of South Tyroleans,

but it meets them half-way; it is a compromise which is also recognised at international level, a

model of coexistence of three language groups that strikes a very delicate balance, which,

hopefully, can once and for all overcome conflicts and prevent future wars. The new 1972 Statute of

Autonomy is an attempt to ensure the survival of the German and Ladin minorities with their

languages and cultures. Autonomy, however, is also intended to and must ensure the peaceful

coexistence of the three ethnic groups.

The Statute of Autonomy gives the people of Trentino South Tyrol consolidated legislative and

administrative autonomy that allows them to shape their lives according to their needs; it goes to the

benefit of all three language groups – Italians, Germans, and Ladins, as clearly evidenced by

economic prosperity, low unemployment, the promotion of concessional housing schemes and other

social achievements.

Also the development of a common European home and Austria’s entry into the European Union

(since January 1, 1995), are important milestones in that process. The Brenner border has lost and

will continue to lose its importance. Yet in an ever larger Europe citizens’ democratic participation

becomes all the more difficult. It is therefore right and proper to try to rediscover the Regions and to

create opportunities in small and clearly defined communities where different people can coexist.

The establishment of a cross-border “Euregio” (the name is still being debated) with the

participation of the parts making up historical Tyrol, can be a peaceful way to overcome borders

and restore to all inhabitants that historical dimension which was taken away from them in 1918.19

17

Constitutional Law of 18 October 2001, no. 3, which came into force on 8 November 2001. 18

Peterlini, O. (2010): L’autonomia che cambia, Gli effetti della riforma costituzionale del 2001

sull’autonomia speciale del Trentino Alto Adige Südtirol e le nuove competenze in base alla

clausola di maggior favore, published by Casa editrice Praxis 3 Bozen/Bolzano.

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The European frame work agreement on transboundary cooperation of regional and local

authorities, Madrid 1980 and the related agreement between the Italian Republic and the Republic

of Austria, Vienna 1993 in: Regione autonoma, Trentino-Alto Adige, la cooperazione

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This European Region can serve as a model for overcoming borders and be a bridge between North

and South, as it is based on polymorphism, on linguistic and cultural multiplicity and a history rich

in tradition.

The challenge in South Tyrol does not end here. The challenge is to make all groups feel at home,

with none overbearing the others, making diversity a source of wealth rather than confrontation. We

want to be proud of living in this country, of enjoying a degree of autonomy that can better respond

to people’s needs, which has clearly borne fruit for everyone; we are proud of speaking more

languages and knowing more cultures, of living and anticipating tomorrow’s Europe and giving

young people not only more opportunities to work in Italy and abroad, but also a broader cultural

and professional horizon.

To this end, greater consensus should be achieved among the language groups on the path to take,

and a vision of autonomy should be developed which all linguistic groups can identify with. The

idea is to work for the advancement of a project for sharing values and common perspectives and

against the politics predicated on confrontation and ethnic division that has always been pursued by

right-wing forces.

17. My finals thesis which we should discuss

For thousands of years mankind has been ravaged by wars. One of the main causes for the outbreak

of international conflicts must be sought in the lack of programs for the resolution of conflicts

between different nationalities and ethnic minorities. It will therefore be our proud boast if our

experience with autonomy can help solve the conflicts. The more a State can set itself up according

to the subsidiarity principle, the more it renounces imposing affiliation while relying on free choice

and federalism, the more autonomous and respectful of minorities it is, the more it will secure its

existence as it will prevent conflicts and make border changes unnecessary.

We therefore hope that mankind can learn a lesson from the bloody wars of the past, which caused

such a great deal of suffering, and that peace will be strengthened.

-------------------------------------------

Dr. Oskar Peterlini, PhD (*1950)

Senator in the Italian Parliament (2001-2013), Member and Speaker of the Regional Parliament of

Trentino-South Tyrol 1978-1998, Author of several books on constitutional reforms, autonomy,

federalism and protection of minorities, electoral systems and pension schemes. Publications:

https://unibz.academia.edu/OskarPeterlini