School: EU urges Italy to stop ‘discriminating against fixed-term teachers’

Brussels – Stop discrimination against fixed-term teachers is the call from the European Commission to Italy, which has not aligned its national legislation to the EU directive on the subject dating back to 1997. The key issue is the gradual salary progression based on seniority, which teachers with fixed-term contracts are not entitled to, contrary to permanent ones.

In a communication dated Feb. 12, the EU executive said (in decision No. 8) it has initiated infringement proceedings against Rome because, under Italian law, “fixed-term teachers are not entitled to a gradual salary progression based on previous periods of service, contrary to permanent teachers.” According to Brussels, this disparity of treatment represents “discriminatory working conditions” that violate EU law, which enshrines the principle of non-discrimination.

Therefore, the Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to Italy, which now has two months to explain how it intends to remedy the highlighted shortcomings. Otherwise, the Berlaymont can issue a reasoned opinion, which is the second step in the infringement procedure. In the face of any further non-compliance by the Italian government, the matter could end up before the EU Court of Justice, which could impose fines.

But how large is the affected group? Out of 943,681 teachers active nationwide in the 2022/2023 school year, just under a quarter (234,576) had fixed-term contracts (data from the Ministry of Education and Merit). Of these, 154,453 are under 45.