The Notion of Agricultural Enterprise and the Application of the Italian Insolvency and Over-Indebtedness Framework in Light of the EU Insolvency Directive

The issue of business crisis and insolvency in the Italian agricultural sector has gained renewed prominence following recent legislative reforms and the national transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring frameworks, debt discharge and disqualifications, and measures to enhance the efficiency of restructuring and insolvency procedures. In the Italian legal framework, the treatment of agricultural enterprises facing insolvency is characterized by structural complexities arising from their distinctive legal classification and socio-economic role, factors which have long underpinned the legislative choice to accord them a specific and exceptional legal status. This framework grants access to debt relief mechanisms not based on their classification as “small entrepreneurs”, but rather by their unique legal status, thereby shaping the scope and application of crisis management instruments in a sector traditionally afforded special legislative attention.