Evolution of Italian legislation on integration of migrants (1998-2011)

The aim of the article is to trace the changes in the integration of migrants based on the study of the legislation adopted in Italy in the period of 1998 – 2011. As well as to identify the main approaches taken by the government of the Italian Republic in the specified period regarding the issue of integration. The research methodology is based on the principle of historicism. The author uses analytical, chronological, historical-legal and comparative-legal methods. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that this study fills a gap in the academic literature and attempts to analyze the evolution of approaches to the integration of migrants in Italian legislation in 1998 – 2011, to outline the strategy of governments regarding migrants, to systematize the main models, relying on a broad legal framework, while attracting the latest research. Conclusions. In the period from 1998 to 2011 Italy was still in a transition period from a country of emigration to a country of immigration. This caused a number of challenges in domestic politics. Traditionally, the Italian political scene has been divided into two camps: the center-left, which formed its migration policy from liberal positions, and the center-right, which declared radical intentions to stop migration. In the studied period, we see fundamental proposals for migration laws from both camps. In particular, the Turko Napolitano, created by the left-wing cabinet of Romano Prodi and the Bossi-Fini law and the Security Package of the period of the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Although these acts had a radically different directions, the author concluded that they clashed with the complex Italian bureaucratic apparatus, and never fully worked. The desire to combat illegal migration was common to both groups of politicians, while right wing politicians tended to radical methods of struggle, and the left were ready to provide certain opportunities for integration even for people without official documents. Worth to emphasize the so-called, “hidden” model of integration, formed in connection with the regional approach. After all, integration programs in different parts of the country, depending on the region, were different. The study shows that the formation of legislation was influenced by both internal factors, primarily the struggle between right-wing and left-wing forces, which traditionally had radically different approaches to the issue of the presence of migrants, and the external factor of Italy's increasing inclusion in the common European space.