The Italian Parliament
Italy has a bicameral parliament consisting of the Camera dei Deputati (Chamber of Deputies) and the Senato della Repubblica (Senate of the Republic). Under the Italian constitution, both chambers are elected by popular vote and hold equivalent powers, including the power to grant or withdraw confidence from the government — a feature that distinguishes Italy from most other bicameral democracies and has historically contributed to governmental instability.
A constitutional reform approved by referendum in September 2020 reduced the size of both chambers: the Chamber of Deputies was reduced from 630 to 400 seats, and the Senate from 315 to 200 seats. These reduced numbers applied from the general election of September 2022. Senators must be at least 25 years old (previously 40), and the minimum voting age for the Senate was reduced from 25 to 18 — aligning it with the Chamber. Members of both chambers are elected for five-year terms through the Rosatellum electoral system, a mixed proportional and plurality system introduced in 2017.
Italy's parliament meets in Rome: the Chamber in Palazzo Montecitorio and the Senate in Palazzo Madama. Joint sessions of both chambers take place in Montecitorio for constitutional purposes such as the election of the President of the Republic.
Deputy Years (1996–2022)
Guido Crosetto was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies from Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, in the general election of April 1996. He was elected under the Mattarellum electoral system — a largely plurality-based mixed system introduced in 1993 as part of the post-Tangentopoli reforms — which favoured well-known local candidates with strong constituency roots. Cuneo province, in the southern Piedmont, is an area of traditional conservative politics, agricultural and small-industrial economy, and strong Catholic democratic heritage.
He retained his seat in each of the subsequent elections: 2001, 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2018. This unbroken record of re-election across different parties (FI, PdL, FdI), different electoral systems (Mattarellum, Porcellum, Rosatellum) and different political conditions is in itself remarkable. Few Italian politicians maintained such continuity of parliamentary representation across the turbulent years of the Second Republic.
During his years as a Deputy he served in multiple parliamentary terms across different majority and opposition positions: in opposition under Prodi I (1996–2001), in government under Berlusconi II (2001–2006), in opposition under Prodi II (2006–2008), in government under Berlusconi IV (2008–2011, including as Undersecretary), in opposition under Monti (2011–2013), in opposition under Letta/Renzi/Gentiloni/Conte (2013–2018), in opposition under Conte/Draghi (2018–2022).
Committee Work
The Italian parliament's standing committees (commissioni permanenti) handle the detailed work of legislation and parliamentary scrutiny. There are fourteen permanent committees in each chamber, organised by subject area. Crosetto's central parliamentary committee assignment was the Commissione Difesa (Defence Committee), which has jurisdiction over defence policy, armed forces organisation, military personnel, procurement, and international defence commitments.
His work on the defence committee spanned multiple legislatures and gave him a depth of knowledge about the Italian military establishment, its procurement needs, its personnel challenges and its international obligations that few civilian politicians can claim. He participated in committee hearings with chiefs of staff, defence industry executives, NATO officials, and foreign defence counterparts, building a network of professional relationships that extended well beyond party circles.
Committee work also involved drafting legislation, scrutinising the defence budget, examining procurement proposals for major platforms (combat aircraft, naval vessels, armoured vehicles, communications systems), and approving or questioning Italy's participation in international missions — from Balkans stabilisation in the 1990s to Afghanistan, Lebanon, Libya and beyond. Through this work Crosetto developed expertise in the full breadth of Italian defence matters, from strategic doctrine to logistical detail.
Thematic Focus Areas
Across his parliamentary career, Crosetto returned consistently to several thematic areas that reflected both his personal expertise and the policy challenges of his era:
Defence Spending. Italy's defence budget has historically hovered below the NATO target of 2% of GDP, a perennial source of tension with allied partners. Crosetto was a consistent advocate for meeting the NATO target — a position that put him at odds with governments of both left and right and that he maintained throughout his opposition years. As Defence Minister, he inherited a trajectory of modest budget increases and has continued to press for Italy to reach 2% of GDP.
Procurement and Industrial Policy. Italy maintains a significant domestic defence industry through companies such as Leonardo (formerly Finmeccanica), Fincantieri, Thales Alenia Space Italia and others. Crosetto's committee work involved scrutiny of major procurement programmes — the F-35 Lightning II programme, naval ship-building, armoured vehicle procurement — and examination of industrial offset requirements and technology transfer conditions. His perspective consistently integrated national industrial interests with genuine operational requirements.
Military Personnel. Questions of military pay, conditions, career structures and welfare were a consistent focus of his parliamentary work. He developed particular attention to the situation of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel, whose pay and career prospects lagged significantly behind civilian benchmarks.
International Missions. Italy's extensive participation in international peacekeeping and stabilisation missions — through NATO, the EU, the UN and bilaterally — generated a continuous stream of parliamentary business. Crosetto engaged consistently with these questions, both during the periods when he supported the governments committing Italian forces and during the opposition years when he scrutinised such commitments.
The Undersecretary Period (2008–2011)
Crosetto's appointment as Undersecretary of State for Defence in the Berlusconi IV government in April 2008 represented his first executive role. He worked directly under Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, and the two developed a close working relationship that carried over into their joint founding of Fratelli d'Italia in 2012.
As Undersecretary, Crosetto took responsibility for specific areas of ministerial activity delegated by the minister, appearing before parliamentary committees to answer questions, representing the Ministry in negotiations and international forums, and working through the administrative apparatus of the Ministero della Difesa. The experience gave him direct knowledge of how the ministry functioned — knowledge that would prove invaluable when he returned to the same building as minister himself fourteen years later.
The Berlusconi IV government operated during a period of significant international defence activity: the NATO mission in Afghanistan was at its peak, the Libyan civil war began in 2011 leading to Italy's participation in Operation Unified Protector, and the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis had begun to impose severe pressure on defence budgets. Managing these pressures while maintaining operational commitments was a central challenge of the period.
The AIAD Period (2013–2022)
Between 2013 and 2022, Crosetto served as president of AIAD (Federazione Aziende Italiane per l'Aerospazio, la Difesa e la Sicurezza), the Italian federation of companies operating in the aerospace, defence and security sectors. AIAD represents companies ranging from large primes such as Leonardo to smaller specialist suppliers, and its presidency is one of the most influential positions in Italian defence industrial policy.
His simultaneous service as AIAD president and FdI parliamentary leader was an unusual combination but one that reflected the specific nature of Italian political economy, where the boundaries between public policy, industrial interest and parliamentary representation are more permeable than in some other systems. It also reinforced his positioning as the figure within the Italian political class with the deepest direct engagement with the defence and security sector.
During this period his parliamentary work continued: he remained a Deputy, participated in defence committee work, and engaged publicly on defence and security questions from the opposition benches. His AIAD role gave him additional access to detailed information about procurement programmes, industrial restructuring, and the strategic choices facing Italian industry in a rapidly changing technology environment.
Senator (2022–)
In the September 2022 general election, Crosetto stood for election to the Senate rather than the Chamber, completing a move from the lower house where he had served since 1996 to the upper house. Under the reformed senate structure (200 seats from 2022, down from 315), a senate seat carries the same constitutional weight as a deputy's seat but within a smaller body.
His election as Senator from Piedmont continued his unbroken record of parliamentary representation, now spanning four different elections in three different parties across two different chambers. On formation of the Meloni government he was immediately appointed Defence Minister, making him a minister-senator — a combination that is constitutionally unremarkable in Italy, where ministers are not required to be parliamentarians but typically are.
Parliamentary Experience and Ministerial Approach
Crosetto's more than two decades of parliamentary experience — in committee, in plenary, in opposition and in government — have visibly shaped his approach as Defence Minister. He is an unusually well-informed minister in technical terms; he engages with detail rather than delegating it entirely to officials; he maintains direct relationships with the armed forces leadership built over years of committee interaction; and he is experienced in the parliamentary accountability processes that ministers must navigate.
His communication style in the ministerial role reflects the directness developed through years as a parliamentary performer: he is willing to say publicly what other ministers might prefer to leave in the background, and he engages with the media on defence matters with a depth that relatively few ministers achieve. This directness sometimes generates controversy — he has been willing to comment publicly on alliance matters, domestic political disputes and strategic questions in ways that attract attention — but it also projects a confidence in his brief that has been recognised across the political spectrum.