The City Council of Milan (Italian: Consiglio Comunale di Milano) is the top tier legislative body of the municipality of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. It consists of the directly elected mayor of Milan and of an elected 48-member assembly, which controls the mayor's governing actions and has the authority to enforce his resignation by a motion of no confidence.

City Council of Milan

Consiglio Comunale di Milano
Coat of arms or logo
History
Founded26 January 1860
Leadership
President
Elena Buscemi, PD
since 21 October 2021
Giuseppe Sala, Ind.
since 21 June 2016
Structure
Seats48
Political groups
Mayoral majority (31)
  •   PD (20)
  •   Sala List (5)
  •   EV (3)
  •   A-IV (2)
  •   MiS (1)

Opposition (17)

  •   L (6)
  •   FdI (5)
  •   FI (3)
  •   Bernardo List (2)
  •   MP (1)
Length of term
5 years
Elections
Party-list proportional representation with coalition majority bonus
Last election
3-4 October 2021
Next election
2026
Meeting place
Palazzo Marino
Website
Comune di Milano.it

The City Council is elected for five-year terms. Its seats are assigned proportionally to each party and list, with a majority bonus being awarded to the winning coalition to guarantee governability. The last election was held on 3-4 October 2021.

The City Council meets at Palazzo Marino, located in Piazza della Scala, Municipality 1.

Composition

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The Council meeting room.

The political system of the Comuni of Italy was changed in 1993, when a semi-presidential system for the mayoral election was introduced. Previously, the Council was elected under a pure proportional system and the Council had the power to elect and dismiss the Mayor of Milan; since 1993 the Mayor and the Council are jointly elected by citizens, with an electoral law that assures to the elected Mayor a political majority in the Council.

Under this system, the election of the Mayor is prior over the election of the Council. Voters express a direct choice for the Mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition and this gives a result whereby the winning candidate is able to claim majority support in the new Council. The candidate who is elected Mayor has always a majority of 62% of seats (29 seats) in the City Council, which will support him during his term. The seats for each party of the coalition which wins the majority is determined proportionally.

In this type of system, the Council is generally elected for a five-year term, but, if the Mayor suffers a vote of no confidence, resigns or dies, under the simul stabunt, simul cadent clause introduced in 1993 (literally they will stand together or they will fall together), also the Council is dissolved and a snap election is called.

The Municipal Board (Italian: giunta comunale), the executive body of the city, chosen and presided directly by the mayor, is generally composed by members of the City Council, but also by external members.

Functions

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The Council acts as the supreme legislative body of the city. It is convened and chaired by a speaker (president del consiglio comunale) appointed by the Council itself.

The Council can decide over programs and public works projects, institution and system of taxes, the general rules for the use of goods and services, forecasting and reporting financial statements. Resolution basic acts attributed by law to its competence are the municipal statute, the regulations, the general criteria on the structure of offices and services.

After the creation of the Metropolitan City of Milan in 2015, which with its Metropolitan Council has the power to coordinate the municipalities around Milan in providing basic services (including transport, school and social programs) and environment protection as the old Province of Milan did, the 2016 municipal administrative reform delegated to the 9 administrative Boroughs Councils of Milan some advisory functions related to local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection, roads, parks, libraries and local commerce.

City Hall

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The City Council is seated at Palazzo Marino, a 16th-century palace located in Piazza della Scala, in the centre of Milan, Italy. Palazzo Marino has been Milan's city hall since 9 September 1861. It borders on Piazza San Fedele, Piazza della Scala, Via Case Rotte[1] and Via Tommaso Marino.

The palace was built for, and is named after, the Genoan trader and banker Tommaso Marino. It became a property of the State in 1781.

The current Council meeting room was inaugurated on 30 June 1953. A ciceronian inscription from the previous meeting place of the Council – the notorious Sala Alessi on the second floor of the palace – is reported on the marble walls around the room:

QVAE IN PATRIBVS AGENTVR MODICA SVNTVR · CAVSSAS POPVLI TENETO · VIS ABESTO
Without personal interests · keep the people in mind · without (using) force

Presidents

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A view of the Council meeting room inside Palazzo Marino

This is a list of the presidents (Italian: presidenti del consiglio comunale) of the City Council since the 1993 electoral reform:

Name Period Legislature start date
Maria Letizia Gilardelli (LN) 20 July 1993 12 May 1997 21 June 1993
Massimo De Carolis (FI) 16 June 1997 14 May 2001 12 May 1997
Vincenzo Giudice (FI) 24 May 2001 1 June 2006 14 May 2001
Manfredi Palmeri (FI) 9 June 2006 1 June 2011 1 June 2006
Basilio Rizzo (PRC) 20 June 2011 21 June 2016 1 June 2011
Lamberto Bertolè (PD) 7 July 2016 6 October 2021 21 June 2016
Elena Buscemi (PD) 21 October 2021 Incumbent 6 October 2021

Political composition

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Historical composition

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Election DC PCI PSI PLI PRI PSDI MSI Others
7 April 1946 22 20 29 6 2 0 0 1
27 May 1951 30 13 8 6 2 15 4 2
27 May 1956 25 15 16 5 0 10 4 3
6 November 1960 25 17 17 6 0 8 5 2
22 November 1964 20 18 13 17 0 7 4 1
7 June 1970 22 19 12 9 4 8 4 2
15 June 1975 22 25 12 3 4 5 6 3
8 June 1980 22 22 16 5 3 4 5 3
12 May 1985 20 21 16 3 8 2 6 4
6 May 1990 17 16 16 0 5 0 3 23
Election Majority Opposition Total Council Mayor
6 June 1993 36 LN 6 PRC
5 PDS
5 DC
3 PS
1 LR
1 FdV
2 RS
1 MSI
60     Marco Formentini
27 April 1997 25 FI
10 AN
1 CCD
10 PDS
8 LN
4 PRC
1 PPI
1 FdV
60     Gabriele Albertini
13 May 2001 25 FI
7 AN
3 LN
1 CCD
10 DS
6 DL
3 PRC
3 IdV
1 FdV
1 Others
60  
28 May 2006 27 FI
6 AN
2 LN
1 UDC
19 The Olive Tree
2 PRC
2 FdV
1 Others
60     Letizia Moratti
15 May 2011 20 PD
4 SEL
2 FdS
2 IdV
1 RI
13 PdL
4 LN
1 UDC
1 M5S
48     Giuliano Pisapia
5 June 2016 22 PD
5 NM
2 SI
10 FI
4 LN
3 M5S
1 NCD
1 PRC
48     Giuseppe Sala

Current composition

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Election Majority Opposition Total Council Mayor
3 October 2021 20 PD
5 SS
3 EV
2 IV-A
1 MiS
6 LN
5 FdI
3 FI
2 BS
1 MP
48     Giuseppe Sala

Notes

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  1. ^ In the courtyard of a house in Via Case Rotte there is a plaque mentioning the palace and its founder Tommaso Marino; see [1]