Italy states that it has a national committee for scientific diving (AIOSS: Italian Association of Scientific Divers), but that there is no legal framework for occupational scientific diving, nor are there any legal standards or certification requirements. There are also no special requirements for initial training (ESDP consultation document 05).
Nevertheless, while the conditions for issuing national certificates of course depend on each country, Italian European certificates were circulating until 2021. Since 2022, the invitation to obtain such a certificate are more vague. But it is indicated that it is possible to obtain a certification “in accordance with the European training standards”, although these standards are not those in force during the so-called training courses. Such certificates are obviously not recognized at least by the statutory countries.
The AIOSS sponsors training in recreational clubs or within the framework of ScienceDiver whose standards are lower than those required by the ESDP. Moreover, this association appears to be a channel to obtain a qualification that would be “European”. [announcements 2018, 2022]
