Lombardy as a Laboratory for Innovations in VET: A Constitutional Perspective

After the reform of Italian regionalism in 2001, VET was formally assigned to single regions. The first part of this chapter traces the issues and consequences related to VET that flowed from this reform, focusing on the well-known Law No. 53 of 2003 and on constitutional case law. The Italian Constitutional Court played a pivotal role in reframing Italian regionalism, reinterpreting the allocation of the legislative competences contained in Art. 117 of the Constitution in favour of the State; to some extent, this also happened in the case of VET. The question is whether there was truly room for regional innovation in VET. The second part of the chapter seeks to answer this by examining Lombardy’s regulatory interventions in VET. This case illustrates how regional innovation and experimentation are essential for the broader implementation of constitutional rights, such as the right to vocational education.