Your 500 will have EPAS (Electric Power-Assisted Steering), as UFI said - practically all 500s do.
Perhaps there was an extremely basic Italy-only model that may not have had EPAS (I know there were 'Naked' models without the full number of airbags etc), in which case there could be a change in the strut top mount that you might not easily see - to alter the steering geometry (e.g. reduce caster to reduce steering effort at the expense of stability).
Since you've mentioned EPS, it might be worth double-checking that there is no confusion with ESP - Electronic Stability Programme - which is fitted to most models of 500 after 2010, but not all. The cars with an ASR button inside are generally the ones with ESP.
-Alex