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This month the Lombardy region and the city of Venice will both vote on new powers of autonomy at referendums which are now taking on increasing levels of controversy. Previously seen as a low-scale vote on local powers, the referendums are now experiencing symbolic overtones following last Sunday’s Catalonian chaos. Last weekend more than 800 people were injured by police as a referendum on independence for Catalonia was held - against the express wishes of leaders in Madrid and Brussels. And now Italy is facing similar chaos with two referendums set to be held on October 22, although in these instances the votes are state-approved and will not face violent opposition.

GETTY Catalonia referendum, left, with an anti-Italian government rally in Rome, right

The autonomy referendums for Lombardy, a region which includes Italy's second-largest city of Milan, and the travel hotspot of Venice will also differ from Catalonia in that they are not binding. The referendums will ask voters if they want their regional council to invoke the third paragraph of Article 116 of the Italian Constitution. This allows regions with a balanced budget to ask the Italian government to entrust them with new powers and a greater degree of autonomy. The consequences of two yes votes could be shattering for Italy, sparking other separatists movements across the European Union nation.

Thousands protest in Catalonia general strike Wed, October 4, 2017 Catalonia general strike: Thousands protest over Catalonia referendum violence. Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 29 People gather at Spanish police headquarters to stage a demonstration, supporting Catalonian independence and reacting against Spanish police's intervention, in Barcelona

Indeed the right-wing Lega Nord are already pushing for a referendum on separating the region of Emilia-Romagna into two sections, dividing powers and unsettling the state. Italy, and the EU, is looking on in concern as the ramifications from Sunday’s Catalonia referendum continue. Brussels echoed Madrid in calls for the referendum to first be cancelled and then ignored, after more than two million people making up 90 per cent of the turnout voted for independence. Catalonia said this lukewarm response to the referendum has put the EU’s reputation - and very existence - at stake.

EPA Catalonia referendum: Thousands of people are protesting in Barcelona against police brutality

Amadeu Altafaj, the Catalan government’s Brussels representative, told Politico: “The credibility and the reputation of the European Union is at stake. “The Catalan government calls for an urgent international mediation, preferably European. “If the EU is not able to protect 7.5 million of its citizens from violence and repression, it will fail not only to them but to the whole union.” The result will be debated in the European Parliament today although the tone is expected to be one of condemnation rather than of support or assistance.

EPA Catalonia referendum: The independence vote was marred by police brutality