Italian Taxi drivers renewed the strike in the middle of July 2006 after talks over government plans to deregulate the sector ,causing chaos in many cities.The drivers staged various forms of protests, besieging main squares, deliberately snarling traffic, blocking access to several airports and organizing go-slow drives, local media reported.In Rome, the drivers descended on central Piazza Venezia, the city center of Rome, soon after midnight after taxi unions abandoned the negotiating table. They remained there throughout the night and forced local authorities to close the square off to traffic.

The protests were replicated in Naples, Turin, Genoa and Milan, where drivers blocked access to the city airport. Italian Economic Development Minister who drew up the bill contested by the drivers, said that "they (the taxi drivers) do not own the city." The matter of controversy is a government decree that intends to liberalize taxi licensing and break the virtual monopoly status of local taxi federations.This decree orders municipal administrations to increase the number of taxi licenses issued and give out temporary permits during predictably busy periods.