Italy

Milan, 18 June 2026 – In 2026, LegisLAB celebrates its tenth anniversary, marking a significant milestone in the journey of a law firm founded with the ambition of moving beyond traditional models of legal practice and building a dynamic, multidisciplinary organisation with a strong business-oriented approach. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Milan, LegisLAB has established itself as a firm that combines highly specialised legal expertise with an in-depth understanding of the industries in which its clients operate. The firm advises businesses, investment funds, investors, private clients and public entities on key challenges relating to growth, innovation and the development of regulated markets. From the outset, LegisLAB has pursued a distinctive model of professional legal services, bringing together technical excellence across its areas of expertise with direct, ongoing involvement in the industries in which its clients operate. This approach underpins both its contentious practice, including litigation and arbitration, and its non-contentious advisory work. Over the past decade, LegisLAB has consolidated its position across a broad range of practice areas, including sports law, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other extraordinary transactions, real estate, civil and commercial law, administrative law, private equity, joint ventures and commercial contracts. Alongside its legal practice, LegisLAB has also developed LegisLAB Academy, an initiative dedicated to education and knowledge-sharing. Established to foster dialogue among professionals, businesses and institutions, the Academy addresses the evolving relationship between law, markets and innovation. Through events, workshops, Master's programmes and specialist sessions, it has become a platform for the exchange of ideas and expertise across different professional fields. “Reaching our tenth anniversary is not only an important milestone for us, but also a testament to the vision that inspired the creation of LegisLAB. We believe that a law firm can act as a strategic partner to its clients only if it has a genuine understanding of the industries in which they operate – not as an external observer, but from within, with the same depth of insight as those who navigate these markets every day. We have built this presence over time, one transaction at a time, one relationship at a time,” says Alberto Porzio, Managing Partner of LegisLAB. “We have always believed in an innovative model and a dynamic approach to the legal profession, while ensuring that professional relationships remain at the heart of everything we do.” To mark its tenth anniversary, LegisLAB hosted a celebratory evening in Milan, bringing together the firm's clients, professionals, partners and friends. The event provided an opportunity to reconnect and network in an informal setting, accompanied by music. Looking ahead, LegisLAB is committed to continuing its growth, further strengthening its position in fast-evolving sectors and maintaining its investment in innovation, professional development and the recognition and development of talent. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Founded in 2016, LegisLAB was established as a multi-practice legal hub, with the aim of providing innovative legal solutions tailored to each client's business development strategy. The firm advises businesses, industrial groups, investment funds and private clients, both nationally and internationally, through teams of highly specialised professionals committed to transforming regulatory requirements into opportunities for business growth and development. www.legislab.eu

On 1 June 2026, Legislative Decree No. 96 of 7 May 2026 was published in the Official Gazette No. 125 (General Series), concerning the “Implementation of Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023, aimed at strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for the same work or for work of equal value through pay transparency and the related enforcement mechanisms’, which came into force on 7 June 2026. The decree, adopted in implementation of the 2022–2023 European Delegated Act (Law No. 15/2024), introduces into Italian law a comprehensive system of pay transparency obligations applicable to public and private employers, structured around four main pillars. 1. Pre-recruitment transparency (Article 5) Employers are required to state in job advertisements and recruitment notices the starting salary or the relevant salary band for the position offered. It is expressly prohibited to ask candidates for information on salaries received in previous or current employment relationships, either directly or through persons delegated to carry out the recruitment process. 2. Transparency regarding pay criteria (Articles 6–8) Employers must make the criteria used to determine pay and pay levels accessible to employees. For employers who apply a national collective labour agreement (CCNL) concluded by trade unions that are comparatively more representative, this obligation is deemed to have been fulfilled by reference to the contractual criteria. Employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the obligation relating to progression criteria. Furthermore, every employee has the right to disclose their pay, and any contractual clauses restricting this right are prohibited. 3. Reporting on the gender pay gap (Article 9) The obligation to collect and report data on the pay gap applies to employers with at least 100 employees, with a phased transitional regime based on company size: employers with at least 250 employees: first collection by 7 June 2027, to be carried out annually; employers with 150–249 employees: first collection by 7 June 2027, to be carried out every three years; employers with 100–149 employees: first collection by 7 June 2031, to be carried out every three years. The data to be reported include the average and median gender pay gaps (overall and for variable pay components), the distribution of employees by pay quartile, and the pay gap by employee category. 4. Joint assessment of pay (Article 10) Where the data reveal a difference in the average pay level between female and male workers of 5 per cent or more in any category, not justified by objective criteria, and the employer has not rectified this difference within six months of the report, it is mandatory to initiate a joint assessment with workers’ representatives, analysing the causes, defining corrective measures and submitting the results to the Labour Inspectorate. Penalties and legal protection (Articles 12–13) Violations are penalised in accordance with the Equal Opportunities Code (Legislative Decree No. 198/2006), with the possibility of withdrawal of public benefits and exclusion from public procurement contracts, as well as protection against retaliation. Legal proceedings may also be brought by trade unions and associations whose statutory aims include the promotion of gender equality. Operational guidance for businesses The decree requires a review of recruitment processes, an update to information on pay criteria and the implementation of systems to analyse the pay gap, all in compliance with data protection legislation (Article 11). Companies with more than 150 employees have until 7 June 2027 to carry out their first data collection; however, it is advisable to begin mapping employee categories and reviewing their pay classification systems immediately.   Edited by the Labour and Risk, Compliance & Sustainability Teams

Agent-based AI systems, capable of planning autonomously, using external tools and executing sequences of actions with minimal human intervention, raise two important legal questions. The first concerns their classification under Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (‘AI Act’), whilst the second concerns the liability regime for damages arising therefrom. Both issues are addressed by the two recent draft legislative decrees implementing Law No. 132 of 23 September 2025, which were approved at a preliminary reading by the Council of Ministers on 10 June 2026. The classification of the agent as an AI system under the AI Act The AI Act does not define the agent and regulates only the ‘AI system’ referred to in Article 3(1). It is therefore important to consider whether the agent constitutes an autonomous and distinct AI system, and as such is subject to the obligations of the Regulation. The Commission’s Guidelines of 6 February 2025 provide guidance on the scope of this concept; whilst not binding – and subject to the binding interpretation of the Court of Justice – they break down the definition into seven constituent elements and require a non-mechanical assessment, conducted on a case-by-case basis, of the architecture and function of the individual system. In light of these criteria, the answer is often in the affirmative, since the agent generally presents itself as an automated system with variable autonomy, capable of adapting after deployment and of generating outputs that affect physical or virtual environments, to which are added planning, the invocation of tools via APIs, unsupervised execution and adaptation based on feedback. The recent delegated decrees implementing Law 132/2025 Of the two implementing decrees for Law 132/2025, only the preliminary approval and accompanying information are currently known; the text of the decrees is not yet available, as it may change following parliamentary opinions and the second reading in the Council of Ministers. The two draft decrees bring the legal framework into line with Regulation (EU) 2024/1689. The first defines the governance structure. AgID acts as the notifying authority and ACN as the market supervisory authority and single point of contact pursuant to Article 70, without prejudice to the sector-specific competences of the Bank of Italy, CONSOB and IVASS, and the Data Protection Authority’s competence regarding high-risk systems under Article 74. Penalties are in line with Article 99 of the Regulation, up to €35 million or 7 per cent of annual global turnover for prohibited practices, with mitigating factors for SMEs and start-ups. A regulatory sandbox is provided for under Articles 57 et seq. In the field of employment, employers are prohibited from making decisions based solely on automated processing in relation to recruitment, disciplinary measures and termination; human oversight is required, and any dismissal carried out in breach of this provision is deemed null and void. The second framework regulates the use of AI in policing and introduces provisions on civil and criminal liability. The civil liability regime In civil matters, measures are provided to shift the burden of proof in favour of the injured party. These include access to the system’s technical documentation, a relative presumption of causation linked to a breach of the obligations set out in the AI Act, the right of a natural person who is the injured party to bring proceedings before the court of their place of residence, and the right to bring a direct action against the insurer of the liable party. A comparison with the Proposal for a Directive on AI Liability, AILD COM(2022)496, is interesting. That proposal harmonised non-contractual civil liability based on fault, with disclosure of evidence (Article 3) and a presumption of causality subject to a breach of a duty of care (Article 4), and was listed for withdrawal in the 2025 Work Programme and formally withdrawn by the Commission via a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 6 October 2025. The decree adopts its presumptive framework and disclosure mechanisms but diverges from it in three respects. It extends the framework to criminal liability and the liability of legal persons, which are outside the scope of the AILD. It anchors the presumption not to fault but to a breach of the compliance rules of the AI Act, in line with the objective logic of Directive (EU) 2024/2853 on product liability, to be transposed by 9 December 2026, to which it intended to link the framework. It adds non-harmonised domestic procedural remedies such as the right of the injured party (a natural person) to bring proceedings in their own jurisdiction and direct action against the insurer.     Edited by: Alessandro Manca and Edoardo Lombardo Siviero

In a notice dated 15 May 2026, the Customs and Monopolies Agency provided operational guidance ahead of the introduction of the new flat-rate duty on low-value consignments. Abolition of the duty-free allowance and transitional duty Following the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2026/382, with effect from 1 July 2026, the exemption from import duties for consignments with an intrinsic value not exceeding 150 euros sent directly from a third country to a person located in the EU will be abolished. From the same date until 1 July 2028, such consignments will be subject to a flat-rate duty of 3 euros per item, regardless of the tariff classification of the imported goods, whether the goods are declared under fields H1, H6 or H7, and the VAT collection regime used (IOSS, special scheme or standard VAT).   The measure — aimed at strengthening controls on low-value consignments, combating fraud and ensuring a more level playing field for EU economic operators — is intended to apply pending the introduction of the EU Customs Data Hub, scheduled to come into effect on 1 July 2028. From that date, in fact, all goods sold via e-commerce will be subject to customs duty in the usual manner, i.e. at the rate corresponding to their specific customs classification.   Amendments to the Delegated and Implementing Regulations The application of the new provisions has necessitated amendments to certain provisions of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2015/2446 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2015/2447 concerning procedures and declaration formats. Pending the publication of the relevant EU acts, the ADM hereby highlights the following areas for action: additions to TARIC for the H7 and H1 declaration formats; adjustment of the guarantee for operators holding a deferred payment authorisation (DPO); applications for DPO authorisation for operators who do not currently hold such authorisation; methods for accounting for specific customs duties.   The ADM has also pointed out that the new duty constitutes a customs duty (tax type A00) and is therefore subject to VAT.       Changes to declarations With regard to procedural codes, the ADM has announced the removal of the ‘Additional Regime’ code C07, currently used to certify customs duty exemption for low-value consignments. Codes F48 (IOSS) and F49 (special procedure) will continue to be used, as appropriate, whilst the new code F53 will be introduced for transactions of this kind subject to standard VAT.   Product Identifiers Finally, the ADM notes that new requirements relating to product identifiers will be phased in, becoming mandatory from 1 November 2026, with the aim of strengthening risk analysis and controls on goods traded via e-commerce.     Edited by: VAT & Customs Team