The article, commenting on a judgment of the Italian Supreme Court which deals with the long standing case of remuneration of doctors in training, aims, in the light of the EU Court of Justice decisions concerning the non-performance by the state for not implementing in the prescribed terms a non self-executing directive that recognizes individual rights, to underline the criteria defining the limitation periods of actions for damages brought by interested parties. The Supreme Court, in line with a previous decision, clarifies that the statute of limitations of such actions is ten years. It also states that the period of time starts from the adoption at national level of the transposing measures of the EU directive. In case this does not happen, the limitation period does not operate at all. However, the issue does not seem yet to have reached a final conclusion as a simultaneous decision by the Luxembourg Judges who intervened over the statute of limitations concerned seems to reopen the issue again.