Italy’s Cabinet has given preliminary approval to a legislative decree that would update the national framework law for artisan businesses. The decision was taken on 28 October and concerns the law that has set the general rules for the sector since 1985.
The proposed decree is intended to bring the framework closer to modern business structures and working practices. It covers professional requirements, company ownership, the operation of local units and administrative procedures. It also includes provisions on master artisans, training workshops and a new advisory body for the sector.
The approval is an important stage, but it is not the point at which the new rules take legal effect. The measure was approved on a preliminary basis. Further consultation and parliamentary steps are required before a final government decision and publication can bring a decree into force. Until then, the existing framework remains the operative one.
Technical responsibility and professional requirements
One part of the draft concerns activities for which a particular technical preparation is required. Under the proposed approach, the relevant qualification could be held either by the artisan entrepreneur or by a collaborator appointed as technical manager. That would set out a clearer route for a business in which the owner and the person responsible for the relevant technical work are not the same individual.
The draft also addresses temporary absences. Where a technical manager is temporarily unable to carry out the role, a temporary replacement could be appointed for up to 30 days. The period could be extended to 90 days for documented health reasons or other documented causes. The proposal does not remove the requirement for technical competence; it sets out how responsibility could be maintained during a short interruption.
Company structures and local units
The proposed changes would also alter the test for incorporated artisan businesses, apart from public companies and limited partnerships with shares. Rather than focusing on the number of partners, the draft would look to the ownership of capital. A majority of the capital would need to be held by partners who work predominantly in the production process, while work in the business would have to retain a leading role in relation to capital.
That distinction matters because an artisan qualification is tied to the character of the enterprise as well as to the work it carries out. The draft does not present capital ownership alone as sufficient. It retains an emphasis on the contribution of partners who take a predominant part in the production process.
Businesses could also have up to three artisan local units under the proposed rules, including units outside the area of the Chamber of Commerce where the company has its main office. Such units could support stages of production, administration or management. Their direction and management would still have to be secured by the artisan entrepreneur, including where digital tools are used to support that work.
Registration, training and advice
For administration, the draft would use the single business communication for entry in the register of artisan businesses, as well as for changes and the cessation of activity. This is presented as a simplification of the process rather than as an abolition of registration requirements.
It would also allow regions and autonomous provinces, after hearing the most representative artisan employer associations, to set arrangements for recognising a master artisan or craft master and a training workshop. Those arrangements could be developed alongside the bilateral systems provided for in collective bargaining.
A consultative commission for artisan businesses would be established at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy. Its role would be to give opinions on national policy planning for the sector and on updating the list of artisan activities. The draft also refers to the European Commission definition of small and medium-sized enterprises when identifying businesses able to take part in consortia and consortium companies.
The preliminary decision therefore sets out a broad reworking of the 1985 framework, rather than a single administrative adjustment. Its eventual effect will depend on the final text that completes the remaining process. For now, the confirmed development is the Cabinet’s preliminary approval of a proposed legislative decree, with the current rules still in place.
