Working time is an issue at stake in contemporary labour law. In Italy the debate has been revitalized by the July 1993 agree-ment, a new example of social pact, putting forward a large and complex reform. Although collective agreements have traditionally improved the legal provision on maximum hours, the law has not been changed since 1923. The article sets the Italian recent devel-opments within the European and international context, showing that measures to combat unemployment — including working time reductíon and the reorganization of working hours — must be thought of as a general and coherent plan.