The Government reorganizes youth policies and the universal civil service

Law no. 206 of October 29, 2026 delegates the Government to adopt, within six months of its entry into force, one or more legislative decrees to simplify and reorganize national policies for youth and to rationalize the universal civil service. The measure is published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, General Series no. 264 of November 12, 2026, with reference number 26G00221. The law bears the signature of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and is countersigned by the President of the Council Giorgia Meloni and the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi.

The text comes at the conclusion of a process spanning the entire legislature: presented to the Chamber of Deputies on February 27, 2026, as act no. 2825 by Minister Abodi himself, it was approved in the Chamber on July 8, 2026; at the Senate of the Republic, it was assigned as act no. 1953 on July 15, 2026, and definitively approved on October 27, 2026. The law is divided into three Chapters: the delegations to the Government (Chapter I), the immediately operational provisions regarding youth policies (Chapter II), and the final provisions (Chapter III), including the financial invariance clause of Article 5.

Six months of time and a consolidated text for the matter

Article 1 sets the framework of the delegation: a survey of current regulations, reorganization by homogeneous sectors, and the adoption of a consolidated text that explicitly indicates the provisions to be repealed. The decrees are adopted on the proposal of the President of the Council or the delegated political Authority for youth policies, in concert with the competent ministers and following an agreement in the Unified Conference. The drafts must be transmitted to the Chambers, which express their opinion within thirty days; within twelve months of the entry into force of each decree, the Government may issue supplementary and corrective provisions.

Among the guiding principles and criteria are:

• the definition of “youth” as persons aged between fourteen and thirty years;
• the transposition of the European Union youth strategy, referred to in the Council resolution of 26 November 2018 (2018/C 456/01), and the “Youth Check” assessment tool;
• the alignment with the intergenerational equity strategy of communication COM(2026) 110 final of 5 March 2026;
• the establishment of youth communities promoted by local authorities together with Third Sector entities pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 117 of 3 July 2017;
• a minimum participation threshold of youth between fourteen and thirty years of age of not less than one third of the members for the recognition of the representativeness of youth organizations;
• the strengthening of the National Youth Council and the involvement of the Italian Youth Agency;
• the regulation of the figure of the socio-educational worker for youth, socio-educational animation (Youth Work), with an inter-institutional table chaired by the delegated Authority.

Civil service: register of entities, controls and certified competencies

Article 2 intervenes on Legislative Decree no. 40 of 6 March 2017 and aims for a consolidated text of the universal civil service. The delegation requests the regulation of the registration procedure in the register of entities, the guarantee of transparency in the choice of project implementation sites, and the distinction between the responsibilities of the holding entities and those of the host entities. It also provides for the revision of the system of controls and audits of the entities, the remodulation of the grounds for exclusion of volunteers - including those related to criminal convictions - and the certification of acquired competencies, integrated into the national system referred to in Legislative Decree no. 13 of 16 January 2013.

National Youth Card and Permanent Observatory

Article 3 provides for the free recognition of the National Youth Card (CGN) to youth between eighteen and thirty-five years of age, who are Italian, from the European Union, or legally resident foreigners. Criteria, functionality, and distribution methods will be defined by decree of the delegated Authority within sixty days; management will take place using the resources of the Youth Policy Fund, and paragraphs 413 and 414 of Article 1 of Law no. 160 of 27 December 2019 are repealed.

Article 4 establishes, within the Department for Youth Policies and Universal Civil Service of the Presidency of the Council, the Permanent Observatory for Youth Policies, chaired by the President of the Council or the delegated Authority and composed of the competent ministers and the presidents of the Conference of Regions, ANCI, UPI, Italian Youth Agency, and the National Youth Council. A technical-scientific Committee, including members from ISTAT and CNR, will prepare an annual report on the condition of youth, to be transmitted to the Chambers.

For readers, the practical effect is twofold: no new burden on public finances, but a regulatory reorganization that over the next six months will redesign access to civil service, the representation of youth organizations, and support tools for those between the ages of fourteen and thirty-five.

Official source: Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, General Series no. 264 of November 12, 2026 - Law of October 29, 2026, no. 206, “Provisions regarding youth and universal civil service and delegations to the Government for the reorganization of the matter” (26G00221).