LAW 190 OF 13 DECEMBER 2023 ON TOURIST GUIDES managers of cultural venues, in fact, create clear distortions to the free movement of professionals, often in favour of individuals without specific expertise, to the detriment of the service user and in clear contrast to the requirements of European regulations40. With this rationale, and also with the intention of facilitating the continuous training of guides on the field, Article 9 has also included the right for tourist guides with an identification card, thus immediately recognizable, not only to access sites for free while performing illustrative activities but also to access them for study and training purposes, regardless of the ownership of the site. Access for educational purposes, since it was not previously provided for by law, was in the past possible only on a discretionary basis. Regarding qualification, in response to the regional-level procedural delays and the associated uncertainty for aspiring guides regarding the content, timing, and verification methods of their competencies, Article 5 provides clear answers. It stipulates that the national examination should be held at least annually and identifies the subjects to be tested (history of art, geography, history, archaeology, tourism law, and accessibility and inclusivity of tourism services), as well as the examination methods (a written test, an oral test, and a practical technical test) and requirements (legal age, Italian or EU citizenship, completion of at least a three-year degree, possession of civil and political rights, certification in at least two languages, one at a level not lower than C1 and the other not lower than B2, and for citizens of another EU member state, knowledge of the Italian language at least at the C1 level)41. Centralizing the examination and establishing an annual schedule should ensure that all potential professionals no longer face uncertainty about when and how to take the exam. However, some concerns have already been raised 40 As evidence of the apparent recurrence of this practice, Article 12 (prohibitions and sanctions), paragraph 4, reaffirms what is already stipulated in Article 3, paragraph 3. It reiterates the prohibition against prohibiting or hindering the entry of the tourist guide and the performance of related activities in all institutes and places of culture as defined in Article 101 of the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape. 41 Further details are expected from the implementing decrees of the law, which have not yet been issued at the time of writing. Unfortunately at the moment, the implementing decree of Law 190/2023 has been rejected by the State Council. “The State Council, with decision No. 53-2024 dated 22.01.24, has suspended the issuance of its opinion on the draft implementing decree of Law 190-2023, pending the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry for European Affairs, the South, cohesion policies, and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) to provide a reasoned opinion on the draft decree. The State Council deemed the process of forming the implementing decree inadequate precisely due to the lack of or insufficient activities carried out by the Ministries”. www.assoguide.org
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