Leo you have the same problem I had last year. I couldn't get my JAR class 1 either. My situation was on the hearing side though. I went for my medical in 09/99 and I had a hearingt loss on two frequencies of about 35dB. So they said they wouldn't give me a Class 1 on a Initial. It's a bummer because the old rules were 35-50dB, and the new rules came into effect on 07/99.
The problem is Holland and Germany! Other authorities don't want the new rules. You only have to look at France for that.
My advice is to speak to your parlimentry representitive. It won't change things in the imediate future but it will but pressure on the Italian aviation Authority to push for the old rules to be reinstated, which by the sound of things is what you need.
The question is, should I take the risk and go to America? How much do you want to fly? These are the questions that I had to answer. My advice is to go for it! I had a bad experience with a flight school. They said I had a job flying Jetstream 31's as a F/O. It didn't really happen. I got a little bit of C208B time, which isn't that valuable. The J1 way is the best way though. You don't know what the future will hold. There are plenty of jobs around at the moment so if you have the hours you will be marketable to someone. Australia isn't a good option for you, thats what I think anyway, the just isn't alot of jobs out there. I know of a flight school in Texas that offers J1 visas who have just been taken over by Oxford Air Training School(OATS). Now OATS train BA'S and British Midlands pilots. So make of it what you will but they have a good reputation. They deal with American Eagle alot aswell. They are called Tyler Aviation, out of Tyler in Texas. I could give you a contact number and someone to speak to if you wanted? Anyway i'm off now so best of look to you and I hope to speak to you soon! Alan(alibaba).