Italy

If you get caught out with this travel essential, it could cost you hundreds of pounds

If you’re jetting off to Italy this summer, it’s vital to familiarise yourself with the local regulations. There’s a lesser-known rule that applies to both residents and tourists, though it’s far more likely to trip up visitors.

This is because it concerns something most holidaymakers habitually carry — a water bottle. On the Italian island of Capri in the Gulf of Naples, single-use plastics have been banned.

With approximately 2.7 million tourists visiting annually, it was essential to mitigate the environmental impact of this influx, reports the Express.

This means plastic bags, bottles, straws and cutlery are forbidden on the island. Despite the ban being enforced for several years, specialists at John Mason International Movers report it continues to surprise people regularly.

Executive director Simon Hood said: “The island’s authorities are becoming increasingly worried about the effects of the growing tourism numbers on the local population and environment.”

“In 2019, a ban on single-use plastics came into force, banning plastic bags, cups, utensils, water bottles, straws and even coffee stirrers. Authorities have been empowered to fine those caught swigging from a plastic bottle up to €500 [around £435] – it may seem excessive, but it is well intentioned.”

He noted that the restriction frequently surprises visitors, as they don’t anticipate it.

Simon explained: “Capri isn’t a municipality historically recognised for environmental work. The long-standing association of the island being a hotspot with movie stars, A-list celebs, and influencers has traditionally meant many of these concerns were ignored but mass tourism has seen changes come thick and fast in recent years.”

The rule primarily targets bars and restaurants, though the bulk of Capri’s tourism arrives as daytrippers travelling by ferry from Naples. These visitors are highly likely to bring single-use plastic water bottles with them, which is precisely how they fall foul of the rules.

Simon stated: “It’s something that would catch me out; the ban aimed at bars and restaurants has influenced what can be bought and sold locally. But for the day trippers, the likelihood you’ll bring a non-biodegradable plastic bottle on your trip is high.

“Considering this, I’d say think twice and consider whether you want to run the risk of receiving a €500 fine.”

Measures would let authorities impose a 30-day blockade on sea arrivals if there is a ‘serious threat to public order”.

Italy’s government has signed off on a new bill to curb undocumented immigration, including using the navy to block incoming migrant ships in “exceptional” cases.

The cabinet of Italy’s conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni greenlighted the migration bill on Wednesday. It also calls for stricter border surveillance and expands the list of convictions for which a foreigner can be expelled.

Before going into effect, the bill must be approved by both chambers of parliament.

One of the most controversial elements allows authorities to impose a 30-day naval blockade on sea arrivals if there is a “serious threat to public order or national security”.

Such a threat could include “exceptional migratory pressure that could compromise the secure management of borders”, says the bill. It also cites the “concrete risk” of terrorist acts or infiltration in Italy, global health emergencies and high-level international events.

Those violating the rules would face fines of up to 50,000 euros ($59,400) and would see their boats confiscated in the case of repeated violations, a measure that seems to target humanitarian rescue ships.

If approved by parliament, the bill could help revive Italy’s beleaguered “return hub” migrants centre in Albania, which has failed to take off due to a series of legal challenges and has been roundly condemned by rights groups.

Migrant boat arrivals to Italy down

The draft legislation comes a day after the European Parliament adopted two flagship texts tightening European Union migration policy, which Italy had pushed for. That EU legislation allows member states to deny asylum and deport migrants to designated “safe” countries outside the bloc, provided there is an agreement with the receiving country.

Meron Ameha Knikman, senior adviser for the International Rescue Committee, said those measures are “likely to force people to countries they may never have set foot in – places where they have no community, do not speak the language, and face a very real risk of abuse and exploitation.”

Meloni, the head of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, was elected in 2022 on a promise to stop the tens of thousands of migrants who land in small boats on Italy’s shores each year.

Her government has signed accords with North African countries to limit departures, while also restricting the activities of the charities that operate rescue boats in the Central Mediterranean.

The number of migrants arriving in Italy by sea this year has fallen to 2,000 compared with 4,400 during the same period last year, according to government figures.

Still, large numbers of migrants continue to die crossing the Central Mediterranean, with nearly 490 people reported missing this year, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Two competing visions for the EU’s economic future are set to collide on Thursday, when the bloc’s leaders gather for an informal retreat to discuss reviving the bloc’s competitiveness.

On one side stands France; on the other, a newly aligned Germany and Italy.

Paris made a last-minute move to join an informal pre-summit scheduled by Berlin and Rome ahead of the retreat on Thursday morning in an unusual bid to coordinate their positions before leaders convene.

The French intervention followed remarks on Tuesday from President Emmanuel Macron to several European media outlets, and amounts to an effort to assert Paris’ agenda in response to a document circulated in recent days by Germany and Italy that lays out a sharply different vision for the EU economy.

In doing so, the French president has flipped the script and introduced firmly on the table one of the most divisive matters for EU leaders: pooling debt to prop up the bloc.

The timing is no coincidence either.

Earlier this month, Mario Draghi, called on the EU to work as a true union and urged leaders to implement a “pragmatic” federalist approach to survive in a new, more brutal world.

The retreat in Alden Biesen, Belgium comes a year and a half after a landmark report by Draghi warned of a bleak outlook for Europe’s economy unless decisive steps were taken to boost competitiveness.

Since the report’s publication in 2024, the global geo-economic landscape has shifted dramatically, with the US and China’s aggressive agendas adding pressure on the EU’s 27 countries.

Macron is the most loyal to Draghi’s ambitions but also the weakest leader at home compared to Meloni and Merz.

Divisions expected on eurobonds

During the retreat, leaders will focus “on strengthening the Single Market, reducing barriers to growth and enhancing Europe’s strategic autonomy,” according to the agenda presented by the Cypriot EU presidency.

Draghi, along with another former Italian prime minister, Enrico Letta – who published his own landmark report on the Single Market the same year – will attend parts of the discussions.

Still, a senior EU official said the time for diagnosis was over, and that leaders now need to take “concrete measures” to move the EU’s economic agenda forward.

Reaching consensus, however, will be difficult. The EU’s Franco-German engine appears to be sputtering, with Paris now facing a fresh Berlin-Rome alliance. On 23 January, Germany and Italy agreed to coordinate their push to deregulate industry.

The first flashpoint is expected to be Macron’s call, made Tuesday, for issuing common EU debt – eurobonds – to finance the massive investments needed to lift competitiveness. Draghi’s report in 2024 put those needs at between €750 billion and €800 billion a year.

“We have three battles to fight: in security and defence, in green transition technologies, and in artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. In all of these areas, we invest far less than China and the United States,” Macron said, adding: “If the EU does nothing in the next three to five years, it will be swept out of these sectors.”

Berlin, however, has long resisted repeating the joint borrowing used to fund the €750 billion post-Covid recovery plan.

Instead, Germany and Italy are expected on Thursday to call for expanded venture-capital financing and stronger exit options for investors. The document circulated by Rome and Berlin suggests “the creation of a pan-European stock exchange, a pan European secondary market, and a review of capital requirements for lending without impeding financial stability”.

On eurobonds, Nordic countries have traditionally sided with Germany.

Still, the same senior EU official noted that “when the European Union needs to take those decisions, it has taken so,” adding that joint borrowing remains an option after the bloc again turned to it at the end of 2025 to support Ukraine. “There is no dream of European debt. There is European debt out in the markets and we’ve just increased by 90 billion last December.”

In a letter sent to leaders on Monday, Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen did not mention joint borrowing, doubling down on cutting excessive regulation and integrating the 27-nation single market.

In the run-up to a meeting with European industry leaders, she also appealed to establish the so-called 28th regime to harmonise rules for companies operating across Europe.

Germany’s strict conditions

France is also pressing for a long-standing priority: a European preference, or “Made in Europe,” policy that would favour EU-content products in public procurement.

“It’s defensive, but it’s essential, because we are facing unfair competitors who no longer respect the rules of the World Trade Organization,” Macron said on Tuesday.

While the idea has gained traction in EU capitals and at the European Commission, Nordic and Baltic countries as well as the Netherlands warned in a non-paper circulated ahead of the summit that the European preference “risks wiping out our simplification efforts, hindering companies’ access to world-leading technology, hampering exchange with other markets and pushing investments away from the EU.”

Germany, meanwhile circulated a document seen by Euronews in December as part of discussions among the 27 laying out strict conditions. Berlin wants the European preference to be time-limited, broadly defined, and applied only to a narrow list of products. It also favours a “Made with Europe” approach, open to countries with EU free-trade agreements and other “like-minded” partners.

Italy, the EU’s third-largest economy, has sided with Germany. Both countries say their priority is not only to support European businesses but also “to attract new business from outside the EU,” according to their document to other capitals.

Macron appeared to partially align with that view on Tuesday, saying the European preference should focus on limited sectors such as clean tech, chemicals, steel, automotive or defence. “Otherwise Europeans will be swept away,” he said.

Berlin and Rome want more deregulation

At the retreat, Berlin and Rome are also set to push a deregulatory agenda. As the European Commission rolled out several simplification packages in 2025, the two countries are calling “for further withdrawals and simplifications of EU initiatives across the board”.

They also propose an “emergency brake” allowing intervention if legislation raises “serious concerns regarding additional administrative burden both on enterprises and on national authorities”.

Last but not least, the Mercosur trade agreement looms large. During the retreat, the Commission plans to consult EU countries on its provisional implementation after a judicial review triggered by the European Parliament suspended ratification of the deal, signed with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

France remains firmly opposed to the Mercosur agreement, citing farmers’ fears of unfair competition from Latin American imports. But the deal nonetheless won backing from a majority of member states in January after Italy gave its support.

Berlin and Rome leave little room for doubt in their document: “We call for an ambitious EU trade policy taking full account of the potentials and needs of all economic sectors, including agriculture. The finalisation of the EU-Mercosur Agreement was an important step in that direction.”

None of the 15 squad members were born in Italy and only a few are fluent in the language.

Several players hold Italian passports or qualify because of a relative, and some people have baulked at the Italian Cricket Federation casting their net so wide rather than concentrating on developing more homegrown players.

South African born and South African capped (six ODIs and 16 T20Is between 2017 and 2021) all-rounder JJ Smuts will play for Italy during the tournament by dint of his marriage but has never even stepped foot in the country.

“People can have their opinion but we’ve got a real togetherness,” says captain Wayne Madsen, speaking before his side’s opening match against Scotland on Monday, which saw him dislocate his shoulder and his team soundly beaten.

The 42-year-old South African born batter is club captain at Derbyshire and has a wealth of experience with teams around the globe. Even so, this group of players has had a real effect on him.

“That heritage and the journeys that guys have gone on to get here, there’s a bond which is pretty hard to describe outside of the feeling that we get as a group,” said Madsen.

“It really is probably our biggest strength. Everyone’s got a story to tell in terms of how they got to this position and everyone’s is unique. Whether it is guys who have grown up in Italy or guys with grandparents who moved away many years ago. We’ve had some really powerful conversations, it has really bonded us.”

For Madsen and Davison, success on the pitch in this tournament is part of a wider plan to build on the growing cricketing roots in Italy.

“We want to win games and we know and believe that we can. If we can finish in the top eight, that’ll change the lives of a lot of our cricketers and put Italian cricket on the map” says Madsen.

“I think for us, the main thing is leaving a legacy in Italy and the platform to develop the game further in the country.”