From 2025, the Italian incentive for obtaining advanced truck driving licenses—established to facilitate access to the profession of truck drivers—will be accessible to foreign residents in Italy. This modification, introduced through a ruling by the Turin Court and an agreement between the Ministry of Transport and Associazione per gli Studi Giuridici sull'Immigrazione (ASGI), marks a significant shift in eligibility criteria, which until now was limited to Italian and EU citizens only.
The incentive was introduced by Decree Law No. 121 of September 10, 2021, later converted into Law 156/2021. Its goal is to support the training of new truck drivers by contributing to the costs necessary to obtain the license and professional qualifications required for driving trucks and other industrial vehicles.
The exclusion of non-EU citizens had been challenged by ASGI, which filed a legal complaint against the Ministry of Transport in the Turin Court, arguing that the nationality requirement was an unjustified form of discrimination. On March 20, 2024, the Court issued a ruling declaring this restriction illegitimate, ordering its removal from future calls for applications.
Following the ruling, the Ministry of Transport decided to comply with the Court's decision, although it has filed an appeal. In the meantime, an agreement was reached with ASGI to modify the access criteria for future application rounds of the license incentive, eliminating the nationality requirement. As a result, upcoming calls will also allow non-EU foreign residents in Italy to access the incentive, under the same conditions as Italian and EU citizens.
The agreement stipulates that, starting with calls after 2024, all applicants will be eligible for the incentive if they have a valid residence permit and meet the other requirements set by the ministry. However, there remains a possibility of a review of this decision should the ministry's appeal lead to a change in the ruling. The next call for applications is expected at the beginning of 2025.
