ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the mutation that the principle of subsidiarity – enshrined in Art. 118 It. Const – has gone through in the Italian constitutional system over the last 20 years. The analysis is divided in two parts: first, some theoretical considerations are made about the concept of subsidiarity in constitutional theory; second, the relevant case law of the Constitutional Court is dealt with. The Chapter’s claim is that over the years, the principle of subsidiarity has, to a certain extent, lost its conceptual autonomy. The procedural understanding of this principle given by the Court has somehow reduced subsidiarity to a sort of ancillary instrument and has given loyal cooperation a primary role.
