Decreto Flussi, yes by the government: here are the changes

The legislative framework on the flows of foreign workers in Italy for 2026 is completed. Yesterday the Council of Ministers gave final approval to the Dpcm authorising 497,550 entries over the next three years (164.850 for 2026, 165,850 for 2027 and 166,850 for 2028, divided between 230,550 non-seasonal and self-employed employees and 267,000 seasonal workers) and also gave the go-ahead to the decree law that had been passed on 4 September, but which the government decided to amend.

As anticipated in last Wednesday's Il Sole 24 Ore, the 'new' Article 5 extends the experimentation, introduced for this year by Decree 145/2024, for the three-year period 2026-2028 only, and reintroduces the 10,000-entry limit, while maintaining the rule that the request must be submitted exclusively through the domestic sector trade associations or employment agencies.

The rule is the result of a mediation between different positions. On the one hand there is that of the undersecretary to the presidency of the Council, Alfredo Mantovano, who is convinced that the out-of-quota channels should be strengthened, all the more so when it comes to meeting the demand for carers by families, in a country that is increasingly elderly and in need of caregivers, and certainly by maintaining 'the strict verification of the entry requirements for such a title' (as specified in the introductory report to the Prime Ministerial Decree that anticipated the desire to proceed in this direction). The limited draught of the measure - as of 18 June, the relative nihil obstat applications amounted to about 1,300 (13%) - had reassured the Executive: hence the initial decision to make the measure structural and to remove the ceiling of 10,000 admissions.

On the other hand, however, ill-feeling has mounted in the majority parties, particularly in Matteo Salvini's League, about the indiscriminate opening of an entry channel into our country. Fears and perplexities that kept the text travelling for almost a month between Palazzo Chigi and the technical offices of the Viminale and the Ministry of Labour and prevented it from reaching the Official Gazette. Until the last few days, when the square was found, balancing the different needs: to ensure families the need for carers, but also, at the same time, to guarantee control over the numbers of those entering our country.

With the publication of the decree and the Dpcm in the Gazzetta, the organisational machine will be set in motion in view of next year's click days: it should start on 12 February with agricultural seasonal workers, continue on 9 February with tourist seasonal workers, and end between 16 and 18 February with the 76.850 non-seasonal employees, of whom 650 are self-employed (the sectors have also been expanded to include trade, logistics, textiles, metalworkers and healthcare), the 13,600 domestic helpers, carers and baby sitters, and the 500 'qualified' workers, i.e. entrepreneurs and managers, freelancers, artists and startuppers.