Foreigners and the condition of reciprocity
Pursuant to Article 16 of the ‘General Law Provisions’, contained in Royal Decree No. 262 of 16 March 1942, “Foreigners are admitted to enjoy the civil rights attributed to citizens on condition of reciprocity and subject to the provisions contained in special laws. This provision also applies to foreign legal persons”.
The reference legislation concerning the enjoyment of civil rights by foreign citizens is nowadays constituted by Legislative Decree No. 286 of 25 July 1998 (Consolidated Law of provisions concerning the regulation of immigration and rules on the condition of foreigners) and by its implementing regulation (Presidential Decree No. 394 of 31 August 1999).
Cases in which it is not necessary to verify the condition of reciprocity
In accordance with Legislative Decree No. 286 of 25 July 1998, the following subjects are placed on an equal footing with Italian citizens, and hence exempt from verification of the condition of reciprocity:
- citizens (natural or legal persons) of EU Member States, as well as citizens of EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway);
- non-EU citizens residing on Italian territory and holding a residence card or a regular residence permit issued for reasons of employment, self-employment, running a sole proprietorship, family reasons, humanitarian reasons and study reasons;
- stateless persons who have been residing in Italy for at least 3 years;
- refugees who have been residing in Italy for at least three years.
Furthermore, foreigners – however present at the border or in the territory of the State – are recognised as having the fundamental human rights provided for by the rules of national law, by the international conventions in force and by general international law.
Foreign Investment
Irrespective of the legal form chosen and the legal system of reference, the term ‘investment’ means any property invested by investors of one contracting party in the territory of the other contracting party, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the latter.
The most common forms of investment include: ownership rights in immovable property, movable property and other rights in rem; monetary claims and other services for consideration arising from contracts; acquisition of existing enterprises or shares in them; creation of new enterprises; copyrights and industrial property rights; statutory concessions, such as those for exploration, extraction and exploitation of natural resources.
According to consistent interpretation, it is considered that the verification of reciprocity should not be carried out for nationals of the countries with which Italy has concluded Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). In such a case, in fact, the instrument ratifying and executing the Agreement takes on the character of a ‘lex specialis’ with respect to the general provision of Article 16 of the Pre-Laws and the condition of reciprocity is deemed to exist with respect to the matters regulated. Similar considerations may apply to the case in which an agreement on the promotion and protection of investment or an agreement containing provisions relating thereto is in force between the European Union and a third country.
For the list of countries with which Italy has concluded Bilateral Investment Agreements and for the main case studies on the relevant regulations and their implementation click on List of Countries and Territories.
The Archive of International Treaties is online.
Pursuant to Article 10 of the Constitution, the Italian legal system abides by the generally recognised rules of international law. Article 117, paragraph 1, of the Constitution also provides that legislative power is exercised by the State and the Regions in compliance with the Constitution, as well as with the constraints deriving from the European Union and international obligations. Any concrete implementation of the principle of reciprocity shall therefore be understood in the light of the obligations undertaken by Italy on the basis of bilateral or multilateral agreements (including agreements entered into by the EU) involving the State with respect to which reciprocity is to be verified pursuant to Article 16.
It is specified that the information provided in this section and in relation to individual countries has no legal value and is to be interpreted only as general indications.