Peter,
Very little international flight is done in flying school planes - due to minimum billing structures making long trips uneconomical.
If you remember the structures in the old Soviet Block, the only "General Aviation" they had were the aeroclubs. Of course, you were never allowed to fly internationally nor too far away from your home strip. There were NO private planes then.
It looks as if Italy is heading in this direction. Whether it is intentional (or they simply screwed up in an unsavory money-rising effort) or not is not the point, but if they willingly reduce GA to aeroclubs and AOC holders, they do de facto declare people who are obscenely rich enough to own a PA28 an enemy of the state. Also a term not unknown.
Italy is already the most unfriendly (in general) to GA visitors in Europe. I've been there a number of times and in most cases it was a big hassle. Avgas availability in particular is difficult to establish reliably, and they will deny a landing clearance if they decide they didn't get your faxes for PNR Customs.
Frankly, if one can do otherwise, countries like that are best avoided. But not only for GA, for all business. It will their only way to realize that if they keep everyone out and tax whoever is in to bancruptcy, they will be financially much worse off than they are now.
I wonder what will happen if you go AOG and have to sit there for weeks.
I don't. It's perfectly clear. Before you depart, you'll have to pay the taxes. That is why I have decided to ban overflight and landing in Italy with immediate effect and until further notice for my aircraft.
What I'd like to know is if they are also considering to do the same for other means of travel, such as cars. Somehow, I hope so, because if so, the outcry will be a lot larger if thousands of holiday makers get taken refugee at the border points when they try to leave the country.