The decision by the Italian Constitutional Court to take a central issue of citizenship reform to the Court of Justice of the European Union had already been anticipated in an academic study published in 2024, even before the new law came into existence. The decree that gave rise to the reform It would only be published in March 2025..
The work is by lawyer Marco Mellone, PhD in European Union Law. and it was published in Eurojus magazine, classified by the Italian agency ANVUR as a class A scientific journal in the field of European Union Law.
In the conclusion of the study, Mellone wrote that, if the Italian Parliament were to approve a new law Regarding citizenship incompatible with European law, "it is not excluded that Italy could be the protagonist in the next decision" of the Court of Justice on nationality matters, in a free translation from the original.
This is exactly the scenario that began to materialize.
Law 74/2025 is being challenged in the Court of Justice of the European Union. For thousands of descendants, the next step depends on understanding how the new rule has affected each case.
Your case may still have a legal outcome.
ANALYZE MY CASEWith Ordinance 147/2026, deposited this Thursday, July 23The Constitutional Court suspended the judgment on Article 3-bis of Law 91/1992, introduced by Decree-Law 36/2025 and converted into Law 74/2025, and submitted a preliminary question to... Court of Justice of the European Union.
The issue raised in Luxembourg lies at the heart of the reform. The Court wants to know whether Articles 9 of the Treaty on European Union and 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union allow for a rule that considers Italian citizenship as never acquired by someone born abroad, including before the entry into force of Article 3bis, who holds another citizenship and does not fall within the exceptions provided for by the new law.
Mellone's study analyzed the bill no. 752, presented in 2023 by Senator Roberto Menia, of Brothers of Italy (Giorgia Meloni's party)The proposal differed from the reform approved in 2025: it stipulated a requirement for Italian language proficiency level B1 and, for more distant descendants, a minimum residency of one year in Italy. The bill was never voted on. But it already raised the question that is now at the heart of the case brought to Luxembourg: can a new law retroactively revoke citizenship status acquired from birth?
Regarding these people, Mellone was categorical. According to the study, the descendants already born acquired the status The status of Italian citizen is acquired "instantaneously and automatically from birth," and therefore a new law could not have retroactive effects on that status.
If the change were legally treated as a loss of citizenship, the guarantees established by European case law would come into play. These include the need for a specific and individual assessment of the consequences of losing European citizenship on the person's life, as well as respect for the principle of proportionality.
Mellone also warned of the problem of reform without an adequate transitional regime. According to the study, this requirement would be even more relevant when a state, "for the first time in more than 160 years," modified its main criterion for granting citizenship.
There is also one detail that stands out for the precision of the analysis.
In the conclusion of the article, Mellone observed that almost all of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on nationality matters arose precisely from... harmful reshipments based on Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
This was precisely the mechanism now used by the Italian Constitutional Court. The Consultation decided to suspend the proceedings and refer the matter to Luxembourg based on Article 267.
The coincidence doesn't end there. Mellone personally participated in the process that resulted in the referral. Ordinance 147/2026 records his involvement. at the public hearing on June 9th as lawyer for two of the parties involved in the trial.
The study also noted that other European countries have already had to modify their laws or practices on nationality as a result of the Court of Justice's jurisprudence. Examples cited include Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
Now, the floor is yours, Luxembourg.
The Court of Justice's ruling could determine the extent to which a Member State can alter its citizenship rules when the change affects people born before the new legislation and consequently interferes with access to European citizenship itself.
Read the full study here: Italian unlimited ius sanguinis and its proposal of amendment: an EU law perspective
Law 74/2025 is being challenged in the Court of Justice of the European Union. For thousands of descendants, the next step depends on understanding how the new rule has affected each case.
Your case may still have a legal outcome.
ANALYZE MY CASE
