1) Published in the Official Gazette: Conversion Law No. 50/2026 on measures to simplify administrative proceedings; in particular, amendments to the framework governing tacit consent (silenzio-assenso)

On 20 April 2026, Conversion Law No. 50/2026 converting Decree-Law No. 19/2026, which also introduces measures to simplify administrative proceedings, was published in the Official Gazette.

By virtue of the conversion law in question, the amendments to Art. 20, paragraphs 1 and 2-bis, of Law No. 241/1990 – concerning the conditions for the operation and formation of tacit consent (silenzio-assenso) – were, inter alia, confirmed.

In this regard, noteworthy is the introduction of an obligation upon the competent public authority to issue, automatically and by electronic means, a certificate attesting the formation of tacit consent, without the need for a request on the part of the private party.

Conversely, in proceedings not yet digitalised, such certificate must be transmitted within 10 days of the formation of tacit consent to the certified electronic mail or ordinary e-mail address indicated in the application. Should the time limit lapse without the certificate being issued, it shall be replaced by a declaration made by the private party pursuant to Art. 47 of the Consolidated act of legislative and regulatory dispositions in the field of administrative documentation under Presidential Decree No. 445/2000, or by the qualified designer.

Tacit consent shall not be deemed to have been formed solely in cases where the application has not been received by the competent authority, or where  it lacks the essential elements needed to identify the subject matter and the grounds of the measure applied for.

2) The European Commission has adopted the regulation on the application of Art. 101(3) TFEU to categories of technology transfer agreements, as well as the guidelines on the application of Art. 101 TFEU

On 16 April 2026, the European Commission adopted the revised Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation applicable to technology transfer agreements (“TTBER”) and the new guidelines on the application of Article 101 TFEU, which will replace the regime in place since 2014.

The revision responds to the evolution of the digital economy and introduces three main innovations: first, a new section dedicated to data licensing is introduced, which explains, inter alia, that licences on protected databases for production purposes are considered – in principle – pro-competitive and assessed according to the same criteria as technology transfer agreements; second, negotiating groups among licensees are now regulated, distinguishing legitimate forms from buyers’ cartels, and identifying compliance measures to reduce the risk of violation of Art. 101 TFEU; third, the market share thresholds for licensing at a stage prior to the commercialisation of a technology are simplified, and the conditions of the block exemption for technology pools are refined, so as to ensure that the benefit of the block exemption is reserved for technology pools compliant with Art. 101 TFEU.

The new rules will enter into force on 1 May 2026.

3) Council of State: the result principle requires a substantive assessment of experience requirements, even where they have been acquired abroad

By judgment No. 2969/2026, published on 14 April 2026, the Council of State reaffirmed that, in compliance with the general result principle set out in Art. 1 of the Public Procurement Code, contracting authorities are required to recognize and give weight to the services performed abroad by economic operators for the purposes of verifying the possession of the technical and professional capacity requirements demanded by the lex specialis of the tender procedure, even where there is no perfect correspondence — above all in terms of nomenclature — between the activities carried out abroad that economic operators indicate as prior experience and those required by the tender documentation.

Indeed, according to the Council of State, the lex specialis of the tender “must be freed from a rigid and formalistic reading in favor of an interpretation attentive to the teleological data and the functional perspective; oriented, that is, towards the achievement of the maximum useful result with a view to giving effect to the principle of sound administration of the Public Administration under Art. 97 of the Constitution”.

To access the decision, click here.

4) Administrative Court of Campania: the lawfulness of the revocation of the award ordered by the contracting authority does not automatically exclude the pre-contractual liability of the Public Administration for breach of the duty of good faith

By judgment No. 2342/2026, published on 13 April 2026, the Administrative Court of Campania (“TAR Campania”) ruled on the lawfulness of the revocation in self-redress (autotutela) of a tender procedure for the award of works and on the consequential damages in favor of the first-ranked economic operator.

The case originates from the decision by which the Municipality of Poggiomarino revoked the resolution initiating a tender procedure (and its consequential acts) for the award of works relating to development and urbanisation of the expansion area of the municipal cemetery, prior to completing the sub-procedure for the verification of anomalies in the offer submitted by the company ranked first. That company challenged the said decision, contesting the grounds thereof and claiming damages for pre-contractual liability, complaining of the protracted duration of the procedure and its cancellation.

The TAR Campania held the revocation to be lawful, emphasising, on the one hand, shortcomings in the executive project as regards the preliminary studies required by sector-specific regulations, which could not be substituted by reference to the cemetery master plan or the general report, and, on the other hand, to inconsistencies between tender documents and the economic framework, including conflicting regulatory references.

As regards the damages claim, even in the absence of annulment, the Court recognized a pre-contractual liability on the part of the Administration on account of the delays and inertia in the management of the procedure, limiting the remedy, however, to the negative interest (interesse negativo) alone; this on the ground that, as the TAR Campania affirms, the pre-contractual liability of the Public Administration may be established irrespective of the assessment of the lawfulness of its administrative acts.

To access the decision, click here.

5) Council of State: no general and automatic obligation to submit the economic and financial plan for the award of concessions.

By judgment No. 2811/2026, published on 8 April 2026, the Council of State held that the reference to the economic and financial plan (“PEF”) in the provisions of the Public Procurement Code governing the award of concessions does not automatically entail an obligation — incumbent on awarding entities — to require economic operators participating in the tender procedure to submit the PEF.

Indeed, the decision to require such document is the result of a discretionary assessment that remains with the awarding entities themselves “to be carried out on a case-by-case basis, depending on the particular characteristics of the tender procedure”, as well as on the basis of the complexity of the management and the structure of the expected cash flows.

To access the decision, click here.