EU Taxonomy

According to EU Regulation No. 2020/852 (the so-called Taxonomy Regulation), an economic activity is considered sustainable if it:

makes a substantial contribution to the achievement of one or more of the environmental objectives defined by the Regulation;

does not significantly harm any of the other environmental objectives (DNSH – Do No Significant Harm);

is carried out in compliance with minimum safeguards, meaning it is aligned with fundamental principles relating to social issues, human rights, and labour rights;

complies with the technical screening criteria established by the European Commission, i.e. the technical criteria that determine the alignment of economic activities.

Although not required to adopt the EU Taxonomy Regulation, the Italo Group has voluntarily decided to report on the eligibility and alignment of its economic activities—including, for the first time, those of Itabus—by disclosing the KPIs provided for under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/73.

In particular, the economic activities contributing to the KPIs are linked to the following activities: “6.1 Passenger interurban rail transport,” “6.3 Urban and suburban transport, road passenger transport,” “7.3 Installation, maintenance and repair of energy efficiency equipment,” and “8.1 Data processing, hosting and related activities.” These activities are representative of the Transport, Construction, and Information and Communication sectors within the scope of the Climate Change Mitigation objective.

The activities related to Italo’s passenger rail transport make a substantial contribution to the climate change mitigation objective, as the service is provided entirely through the use of electric trains, resulting in no direct CO₂ emissions.

Following the assessment of the technical screening criteria, it was necessary to analyse the minimum safeguards at company level in order to evaluate the alignment of the activities considered.

In this regard, the Group conducted its economic activities in compliance with the minimum safeguards, taking into account the four areas identified by the Platform on Sustainable Finance:

• Human Rights;
• Anti-Corruption;
• Taxation;
• Competition.

Accordingly, the Group promotes respect for Human Rights and adherence to the main applicable international standards among its Partners and Stakeholders, while aligning its governance framework with these principles. This is supported by the adoption of the Code of Ethics, the Legislative Decree 231 Model, the PAS 24000 certification, the establishment of the Social Working Group, and the launch of a human rights due diligence process aimed at verifying compliance with human rights standards throughout its value chain.