The Senate gives the green light to the commissioners' decree: from the Mose to the Ponte sullo Stretto, what changes

The Senate Chamber has given the green light to the commissioners' decree, approving the measure with a vote of confidence. The text, which will reach the Chamber of Deputies on 5 May for a second reading, puts its hand to the governance of major works and tries to put order in the galaxy of extraordinary structures that have grown in recent years. It includes the Strait Bridge, but also the Gran Sasso, the A24-A25 motorways, Anas interventions, and a long series of construction sites considered strategic.

The chamber approved it with 95 votes in favour, 58 against and one abstention

The heart of the measure remains Article 1, the most delicate one. Here the government confirms the change of pace that had already emerged in talks with the Quirinal: no super-commissioner on the bridge and the return of the direction to the Ministry of Infrastructure. This choice marks a discontinuity with the first drafts and aims to bring the operation back within a more ordinary perimeter, after the Court of Auditors' findings. The text approved by the Senate clarifies in detail the procedural path to arrive at the final go-ahead for the work. It is a true roadmap: updating of the economic-financial plan, new preliminary steps, acquisition of technical opinions and, above all, a new CIPESS resolution, destined to become the key act of the entire process. Alongside this, the decree strengthens the role of the MIT as the steering committee for the interlocution with Brussels. The comparison with the European Commission remains a crucial junction, both on the environmental front and on that of competition and procurement rules. A choice dictated by the need not to stumble over any objections from the EU during the authorisation process.

At the same time, the decree intervenes on the galaxy of existing commissioners. For the Gran Sasso, the appointment is extended until 2028 and the perimeter of competences is redefined, centralising functions in a single structure. The same scheme applies to the A24 and A25 motorways, where the extension of the commissioners serves to complete complex seismic adjustment and modernisation works. The decree also affects Anas: here the novelty is the transfer of the commissioners' functions to CEO Claudio Andrea Gemme, with the possibility of delegating them to the territorial structures. The decree also redesigns the governance of railway works, with a net centralisation in the hands of Rfi. CEO Aldo Isi takes over from the extraordinary commissioners already appointed for works on the national network, assuming their tasks and powers. The scope includes strategic projects such as the expansion of the Naples-Bari high-speed line and work on the Palermo-Catania-Messina route. The logic is to bring hitherto fragmented worksites back into a single directorate, while maintaining the commissioner model in order to speed up times and procedures.

The decree also puts order on the Mose, intervening on a knot that has remained unresolved until now: the legal nature of the work. The system is in fact formally acquired by the State and entrusted for use to the Venice Lagoon Authority, which already manages and maintains it. This choice serves to definitively clarify who is the "owner" of the infrastructure and to stabilise governance. At the same time, the Authority enters by right among the qualified contracting stations, thus being able to directly manage tenders and works without intermediate steps. The text is expected in the Chamber of Deputies where general discussion will begin on 5 May. It will have to be converted by the 10th.