Italy

Status of the current legislative process

No draft implementation has been published yet. There are currently no further information available with regards to the timeline.  

Italian Law no. 91/2025, delegating the Italian Government to adopt legislative decrees to implement various EU directives, including the EmpCo, into national law, entered into force on 10 July 2025. 

Link to the draft (if available) 

N/A

Does the implementation go beyond EmpCo requirements? 

N/A

Are there any comments from relevant authorities on the interpretation or enforcement of the national implementation?  

Yes

Italian Council of State’s decision no. 3701 of 23 April 2024 (overturning an AGCM’s decision by which a fuel company had been fined €5 million) considered the EmpCo - although not yet transposed and applicable - for interpretative purposes.  

Among other things, such decision clarified that the EmpCo does not fundamentally prohibit using a ‘green’ claim with respect to potentially polluting products, provided that such claim i) is specific and not generic or ii) where generic, is supported by recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim.  

It also clarified that the prohibition on making an environmental claim about the entire product when it concerns only a certain aspect of the product should also apply where the trader is able to demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance.  

Will the national implementation be applied in a Business-To-Business (B2B) context? 

It will likely be used as guidance. 

Although the draft implementing decree is not yet available, we believe that, in line with existing provisions on unfair commercial practices, the new rules and, in particular, the new practices to be included in the “blacklist” introduced by the EmpCo will directly protect: 

i) consumers, and 

ii) microenterprises, where no specific protection is granted under Legislative Decree No. 145/2007 on misleading advertising or unlawful comparative advertising. 

However, the rules on unfair commercial practices may be also taken into consideration by civil courts as criteria to assess whether a commercial practice or an advertising statement constitutes an unfair competition act according to Article 2598 of the Italian Civil Code in B2B relationships.  

Is there a green claims guide/guidance in your country? 

The Italian Advertising Self-Regulation Institute (Istituto di Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria – “IAP”) has published a Green Claims Brochure, based, in particular, on Article 12 of IAP’s Code of Marketing Communication Self-Regulation (on claims relating to the protection of natural environment) and relevant case-law: https://www.iap.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GREEN-CLAIMS-Brochure.pdf  

What are the sanctions and penalties?  

The Italian Competition and Market Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato – “AGCM”) may proceed with moral suasions or initiate administrative proceedings possibly leading to i) administrative fines between Euro 5,000 and Euro 10,000,000, ii) injunctions, as well as iii) the publication of the decision. 

Does the national implementation answer the following questions:  

(1) whether sustainability labels can take the form of text; 
(2) whether generic environmental claims can be used or are they banned unless you have recognised excellent environmental performance; 
(3) whether GHG impact claims based on GHG offsets are banned only if offsets are the sole basis, or even if offsets and GHG reductions are combined.

N/A