Gabriele Donà has developed nearly thirty years of experience in European Union law (both substantive and procedural) within a leading law firm, where he continues to serve as Managing Partner.
In addition to handling EU law matters before all Italian courts (tax, administrative, civil and criminal), including the highest jurisdictions (such as the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Council of State and the Constitutional Court), he regularly pleads before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
To date, he has been involved in 33 proceedings before the CJEU, arising from both direct actions against acts and conduct of EU institutions (European Commission, Council of the European Union, European Parliament) and preliminary ruling proceedings referred by national courts. These cases have concerned, inter alia: antitrust agreements, State aid, taxation, customs law, EU agricultural law, fisheries, environmental law, imports from third countries, European parliamentary law, administrative transparency of EU institutions, and the European civil service.
He has also acted, under the freedom to provide services regime, before Belgian, German, Portuguese and French courts, in both domestic and international arbitration proceedings, and before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Academic Appointments
He has served as Adjunct Professor of European Union Law and EU Procedural Law at the Department of Legal and Business Sciences of LUM University of Bari-Casamassima (academic years 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025).
Previously, he was Adjunct Professor of “EU Procedural Law: Litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Union” at the Department of Law of the University of Ferrara (academic years 2008/2009 to 2012/2013).
PRACTICE AREAS
PROFESSIONAL ROLES
He served as President of the European Lawyers’ Union (U.A.E.), based in Luxembourg (2018–2020), having previously been Vice-President (2014–2018) and a member of its Executive Committee (since 2014).
Since 2025, he has been Director of the U.A.E. specialisation courses in Italy leading to the qualification of “Specialist Lawyer” in European Union law.
He is regularly invited in Italy and abroad to deliver lectures and presentations, both in academic and professional settings, on EU substantive and procedural law.
Education and Qualifications
Law Degree, University of Padua (1996)
Admitted to the Padua Bar (1999)
Registered advocate before the Court of Justice of the European Union, Luxembourg (since 1999)
Qualified to plead before the Supreme Court of Cassation and other higher courts (since 2012)
PUBLICATIONS
He is the author of numerous articles on EU law (substantive and procedural), including:
“A Revolution in the World of Sport: from Walrave and Koch to Donà v Mantero”, forthcoming in L’integrazione europea attraverso la giurisprudenza comunitaria (1954–1974) (Editoriale Scientifica);
“Rights of Defence and Good Administration in Antitrust Proceedings in the Recent Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union”, in the proceedings of the XVI Treviso Antitrust Conference (Larcier-Intersentia, 2025);
“Preliminary References to the Court of Justice of the European Union by National Courts”, PQM (December 2024);
“The Action for Annulment and the Innovations Introduced by the Lisbon Treaty”, Diritto comunitario e degli scambi internazionali (2010);
Commentary on judgments of the General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Communities (Il Sole 24 Ore Group, 2000–2002).
He also contributed commentary on Articles 121–127 of the Rules of Procedure (written phase of proceedings) in Le regole del processo dinanzi al giudice dell’Unione europea (Editoriale Scientifica, 2017).
He is co-author (with Wilma Viscardini) of the monograph La tutela penale e amministrativa degli operatori economici e gli interessi finanziari dell’Unione europea (Cedam, 2000).
He has edited the following collective works:
A European Union of Justice: Challenges for Judicial Cooperation in Europe (Larcier-Intersentia, 2024);
Le règlement extrajudiciaire des litiges (REL) dans le contexte juridique européen (Larcier-Intersentia, 2024).