For the Autonomies


For the Autonomies is a heterogeneous, mostly centrist, centre-left and regionalist, parliamentary group which has been active, with slightly different names and compositions, in the Italian Senate since 2001.

History

The group was formed in May 2001 by six senators representing the northern special-statute autonomous regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Aosta Valley, two senators of European Democracy and senators for life Giulio Andreotti and Gianni Agnelli. Instrumental in the formation of the group were Helga Thaler Ausserhofer, who served also as its first president, and Andreotti: the two formed a friendship and a strong political bond, despite their different geographical and political backgrounds.
The group has since been home for the regionalist parties usually affiliated with the centre-left Olive Tree coalition and, later, the Democratic Party, including the South Tyrolean People's Party, the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party, the Union for Trentino, the Valdostan Union and Valdostan Renewal, and most senators for life, including Andreotti, Agnelli, Francesco Cossiga, Emilio Colombo, Carlo Rubbia, Elena Cattaneo, Giorgio Napolitano, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Renzo Piano and Carlo Rubbia.
In 2006–2008 the group survived thanks to the influx of six senators of the would-be PD. In 2008–2013 it welcomed the Union of the Centre, the Associative Movement Italians Abroad and some centre-right independent or minor-party senators; during that parliamentary term the group saw also the return of Andreotti and Cossiga. In 2013–2018 the group welcomed the senators of the Italian Socialist Party and, from 2014 to 2018, those of Solidary Democracy. More recently, from 2018 to 2022, the group featured also Pier Ferdinando Casini, who has continuously served in Parliament since 1983. In 2025 the group was joined by one senator representing the Greens of South Tyrol and Green Europe.

Composition

2022–present

2018–2022

2013–2018

2008–2013

2006–2008

2001–2006

Leadership

  • President:
  • *Helga Thaler Ausserhofer
  • *Oskar Peterlini
  • *Gianpiero D'Alia
  • *Karl Zeller
  • *Julia Unterberger