The Italian Football Association (FIGC) has toughened licensing rules in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the bankruptcy of Serie A club Parma.

Parma were declared bankrupt last week amid growing debts and a failure to pay wages or taxes since last July.

UEFA refused to give the club a licence to appear in the Europa League this season, but they managed to obtain the required permit to participate in Serie A.

But that would be unlikely to happen again under a new system to measure liquidity, which will be introduced from 2015-16.

"I would define today as an historic one for the [FIGC] federal council," FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio said in quotes published on the Italian FA's website. We are introducing a different and innovative concept for licensing."

The new rules were passed by a majority vote and will be enforced immediately in evaluating licence applications for next season.

They will also be extended to Serie B and the Lega Pro (third division) once they have been approved by the respective league bodies.

"The fundamental principal is that this opens up a season of restructuring in which we start off with a concept of guaranteeing liquidity with a suitable monitoring system and by getting to know the situation inside every single club," FIGC general director Michele Uva said.

"Our plan foresees the stability of clubs, both economically and sportingly, within four years, with the gradual introduction of parameters which will lead to them breaking even.

"All clubs are obliged to present us with a recovery plan with the first sanctions starting from the second year to ensure we arrive at 2017-18 with clubs needing to meet certain parameters to enter the league."

The rules -- similar to UEFA's financial fair play measures -- aim to ensure that clubs are not permitted to spend more than they earn. External investors will also be vetted to give more transparency.