By adopting the Directive 2008/52, the European institutions have sought to give new impetus to the spread of mediation as an alternative means of dispute resolution. Member States of the Union have followed different paths in implementing the Directive, a fact that does not facilitate the assessment of its real impact on the rates of litigation in the various national legal systems. Following an approach of law in context, this paper examines the data collected by the European institutions about the reality of mediation and notified by the competent national authorities. The concluding remarks are devoted to the Italian approach to implementing the European directive
Keywords: Mediation - alternative means of dispute resolution - European Union - Directive N° 2008/52 - Italy