ITALY Trends and Developments Contributed by: David A Röttgen, Andrea Farì, Francesco Fonderico and Ermanno Fonderico, Ambientalex Studio Legale
The second strand The second strand relates to the transposition of EU Directives into Italian law. Unlike the previous one, this second regulatory strand is more predictable, as the discipline standards and the deadlines for transposi- tion are set by the EU regulatory source. A bill (the European Delegation Act 2025) delegating to the government the transposition of EU Directives and the implementation of other acts of the EU is cur- rently being adopted – in environmental matters, these pieces of EU legislation are as follows: • Directive (EU) 2024/1799 on the promotion of the repair of goods (Article 4); • Regulation (EU) 2024/3005 on the transparency and integrity of environmental, social and govern- ance (ESG) rating activities (Article 6); • Regulation (EU) 2024/590 on substances that deplete the ozone layer (Article 7); • Regulation (EU) 2024/1244 on the reporting of environmental data from industrial installations and the creation of a portal on industrial emissions (Article 8); • Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 on shipments of waste (Article 9); and • Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 on strengthening the European ecosystem for the production of net-zero emission technologies (Article 13). The third strand The third strand concerns government or parliamen- tary initiative bills. At present, without being exhaus- tive, the main bills include: • a draft bill delegating powers to the government to revise the consolidated text of the legal provisions on water and electrical installations referred to in Royal Decree No 1775 of 11 December 1933; • a draft legislative decree with regard to improving the structure of the EU’s electricity market; • a draft legislative decree implementing Directive (EU) 2023/2413 regarding the promotion of energy from renewable sources; • a draft legislative decree on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE); • a draft legislative decree implementing Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of
the fight against illegal waste activities affecting the entire national territory. The reform transforms environmental violations from minor offences to highly offensive crimes, placing them on par with other serious forms of economic and organised crime. The aim is to overcome the per- ception of impunity that has often made illegal con- duct in the waste sector convenient. There has been a marked change in the crackdown on environmental crimes. Merely financial or minor penalties have been replaced by more severe prison sentences. As a result, the application of the concept of “particu- lar tenuousness of the offence” has been excluded for environmental offences covered by the Reform (ie, Articles 255 ter, 256 (1 bis), (3) and (3 bis), 256 bis, and 259 of the Environmental Code) (new paragraph 4 ter of Article 131 bis of the Criminal Code), which normal- ly excludes punishment when, due to the nature of the conduct and the minor damage or danger involved, the offence is of a particularly minor nature and the behaviour is not habitual, thereby significantly chang- ing the approach to offences in this area. The reform has extended to: • environmental offences, which are subject to amendment; • the application of deferred arrest in flagrante delicto (Article 382 bis of the Code of Criminal Procedure); • undercover operations (Article 9, paragraph 1, let- ter a) of Law No 146 of 16 March 2006); and • anti-Mafia prevention measures, including the judicial administration of companies or assets connected with the economic activities of persons subject to criminal proceedings for waste-related offences (thus highlighting the organised criminal dimension that often characterises this sector). Penalties are also differentiated according to the nature of the waste (hazardous or non-hazardous) and the severity of the damage, in line with the principles of proportionality and specificity.
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