Italy’s Court of Auditors, which overseas public spending, last month refused to authorise construction of the €13.5bn bridge over the Strait of Messina, planned as the first fixed link between Sicily and the mainland.
The decision, which has been harshly criticised by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, raises questions over the future of the 3.7km-long bridge that a Webuild-led consortium has been lined up to build.
The court issued its verdict in a brief statement on 29 October after a hearing that day, saying it would publish its reasoning within 30 days.
During the hearing, judges questioned whether an earlier, 2005 tender for the project remained valid, citing a mismatch in projected costs and questioning whether procurement complied with EU competition rules.
Not the final word
The government can ignore the ruling but that carries some risk, legal experts have said.
Nicola Lupo, professor of constitutional law at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, told Euronews that the court would make what’s called a “registration of reservation”, which is logged in the parliamentary record. Such a warning over the bridge’s viability could serve as a premise for future lawsuits, she said.
Giorgia Meloni has said she’ll wait for the court’s reasoning before deciding what to do, but denounced the ruling as an “intolerable interference” in her government’s plans, Reuters reports.
The government says the bridge will boost the economies of Sicily and the Calabria region, Italy’s poorest areas, but the plans have sparked protests in the region over its cost, environmental impact, and seismic risk.
Controversial judicial reform
Court’s decision comes as the Italian government attempts to pass a controversial judicial reform measure that would separate the career paths of prosecutors and judges, which the government says will prevent conflict of interest between the two groups and avoid potential political bias in court decisions.
The day after the Court of Auditors’ decision, Italy’s Senate approved the reform plan, which is now set to go to a national referendum next year.
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