Italy fast-tracks data centre approvals

Italy already ranks among Europe's most significant data-centre markets, with more than 200 facilities, including a dense concentration in Milan. As AI workloads, cloud adoption and latency-sensitive services accelerate, the country's digital infrastructure footprint is set to expand further.  The primary constraints for these projects have been environmental permitting and fragmented authorisation timelines, which have historically slowed development. inspiratia spoke with Roberta Errico, Senior Associate at A&O Shearman and Public Law Specialist, who said: "The authorisation process took about 2-3 years before this legislation." This has limited the pace at which the sector can respond to surging demand.   Within the Energy Bills Decree (Decreto Bollette) passed in February 2026, a single authorisation procedure for data centres has been introduced, streamlining the authorisation process to 10-13 months.