Italian Citizenship and Law 74/2025: European Commission Opens 4-Week Window on CJEU Case C-816/26

The European Commission has officially issued its formal response to the complaint challenging Italy’s Law No. 74/2025 and its retroactive restrictions on iure sanguinis citizenship. The development was first reported on behalf of the Natitaliani association — of which I, Avv. Michele Vitale, am a proud member — by colleague Avv. Flavia Di Pilla in an Instagram briefing.

While my firm will publish the full analytical breakdown and the complete, unredacted official European Commission document tomorrow, several decisive strategic developments require immediate attention for foreign-born descendants. In the coming hours, I will be publishing further information and additional in-depth details regarding the European Commission’s response.

Formal Dialogue Between Brussels and Rome

The official communication confirms that the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers has actively reviewed the statutory amendments introduced under Article 3-bis of Italian Law No. 91/1992 (which retroactively deems foreign-born descendants with another nationality to have “never acquired Italian citizenship”).

Crucially, the Commission confirms that it has already engaged directly with Italian authorities, demanding formal clarifications regarding the compatibility of these domestic restrictions with European Union law and Treaties.

European Commission Stance on CJEU Case C-816/26

Addressing why an autonomous infringement proceeding (under Article 258 TFEU) has not been immediately initiated, the Commission noted that the Italian Constitutional Court had already suspended domestic proceedings (Order No. 147/2026) to refer the exact compatibility of Article 3-bis directly to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) under Case C-816/26.

Because the European Union’s highest judicial authority is already seized of the matter, parallel administrative proceedings would not expedite resolution. However, the Commission has put on record a binding institutional commitment: it will take appropriate follow-up actions should the CJEU rule that the Italian legislation breaches EU law.

The 4-Week Window for Supplementary Submissions

The most urgent development is procedural: before archiving the initial administrative complaint, the European Commission has granted a strict four-week deadline to submit supplementary evidence and legal grounds.

The Constitutional Court’s referral in Order 147/2026 focuses strictly on retroactivity for individuals born prior to the decree. This four-week window allows legal teams to submit critical dossiers on issues currently outside that referral:

• Consular System Failure (Unavoidable Impediment): Demonstrating how the chronic collapse of the consular Prenot@mi system factually prevented applicants from filing before the March 27, 2025 cutoff;
• The “Exclusive Ancestral Citizenship” Barrier: Highlighting discrimination against lineages originating in jus soli jurisdictions;
• Status of Minor Children: Challenging restrictions demoting minors’ ancestral rights into conditional grants.

In the coming hours, I will publish further updates and operational details on this developing matter, leading up to tomorrow’s full release of the complete, unabridged official European Commission document on this blog.