Italy is preparing a major reform of its armed forces that will introduce a new national reservist system and increase its military personnel by 40,000 by 2033, according to a draft law consulted by Euractiv on Thursday.
The reform, led by Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, aims to restructure Italy's defensive model and improve availability and response times.
The addition of personnel is related to the objective of “ensuring the necessary levels of professional availability and full interoperability of the military instrument in the international context and in the perspective of a common European defense policy”, the document states, according to Agerpres.
Annual stages
The increase, which will bring the total number of personnel serving in the Italian armed forces to more than 200,000, will occur in stages.
Every year, it will be established in the budget law, within the limit of 5,071 soldiers for the year 2028, 5,321 for the year 2029, 7,001 for the year 2030, 7,444 for the year 2031, 7,500 for the year 2032 and 7,663 for the year 2033.
The measure is “decided on the basis of available resources and current recruitment capacity”.
Apart from increasing the number of soldiers, at the heart of the reform is the creation of a new operational reserve designed to provide deployable military personnel.
The three pillars
The document establishes three distinct pillars: an operational reserve composed mainly of recently retired members of the military, a volunteer specialist reserve for personnel with specific professional skills, and a territorial reserve built from locally recruited volunteers and intended especially for domestic emergencies and support tasks.
An essential feature of the proposal is the introduction of a legal mechanism for rapid mobilization in exceptional circumstances that will allow the government to activate reserve forces “in serious situations affecting the security of the state or for the defense of national borders”.
The decision will be taken by the government, and the parliament in Rome will have to review and vote on the measure within five days, with the legislature retaining an official oversight role.
It is expected that the bill will be presented in the cabinet meeting, probably after the summer vacation. If approved, the text provides for a period of 12 months for the implementation of this reform.
