Infrastructure Decree to be discussed at the Council of Ministers on Monday: end to pre-emption rights in the Project and more liquidity for businesses

An infrastructure decree – which had long been announced but had never actually reached the ministers’ table – is expected to be discussed at the Council of Ministers on Monday 9 November. Now, however, the deadlock appears to have been broken, to the extent that Minister Salvini himself announced it during a press briefing following the Lega’s Federal Council meeting. This issue, combined with that of the budget, says the minister, promises to be ‘challenging’. Among the expected measures, according to non-governmental sources, there should be a rescheduling of projects to free up resources, whilst the ministry is working flat out on the issue of high material costs. This is the issue that Salvini also highlighted in his summary of the priorities discussed at the Federal Council meeting. ‘As Minister for Transport, we are also working on the high cost of building materials,’ he said at the press briefing, after reporting on the discussions regarding the budget bill. He announced that the bill had received the unanimous support of the Lega. This thorn in the side for the government and for businesses, which have been grappling for years with rising prices for bitumen and steel, amounts to 1.4 billion euros to cover 2025. “We have completely forgotten about the high cost of materials,” complained ANCE President Antonio Ciucci to *Il Sole 24 Ore*. “This is truly a major discrepancy and clearly creates a huge problem, not least because it may not be clear that those resources represent a debt the State has incurred towards businesses.” So, no additional money, no support, but a pact which is now struggling to get off the ground. The minister and deputy prime minister, however, is putting the brakes on and promising swift solutions during the parliamentary debate on the draft budget bill. Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT), a decree is being drawn up to address other highly pressing issues awaiting resolution.

 Work is currentlyunderway to review the planning of some of the projects in order to free up expenditure margins. The scope of the works concerned and the extent of the resources that can be freed up have yet to be defined. A second aspect concerns public-private partnerships, which have been in limbo since the EU Court’s ruling last February. The exact wording is not yet known, but the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) had already mooted an amendment to the Public Procurement Code to safeguard project finance. The framework will start from a point of no return: the prohibition of the right of pre-emption, or similar mechanisms. Among the proposals that might be adopted are a simplification of procedures, implementation guidelines to assist contracting authorities, and greater flexibility depending on the value and complexity of the operations. As previously announced in *Il Sole 24 Ore*, provisions for compensation for expenses incurred by the project promoter could be included, but without automatic mechanisms. In short, the decree will formalise the end of the project promoter’s privileged status.

 Action should then be taken to extend this to PNRR construction sites, in line with the measure introduced in July during the conversion of the previous Infrastructure Decree-Law, to provide liquidity to businesses grappling with rising costs of materials, fuel and energy. The provision allows, at the contractor’s request, for the recovery of the advance payment already received by the company to be suspended. In practice, for the duration of the suspension, the advance payment remains at the company’s disposal rather than being recovered gradually through payments for the works. The July provision, which applies to all construction sites except those under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), stipulates that the suspension shall apply ‘for the time strictly necessary, within the limits of the resources available under current legislation and, in any event, no later than 31 December 2026’. It expressly excludes projects funded ‘wholly or in part’ by resources from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. It is on these two points that the new measure, which builders have been clamouring for, is expected to have an impact. This would complete the picture by pushing the deadline beyond the end of the year and extending the possibility of requesting a suspension to construction sites covered by the Plan.

At the League’s national executive committee meeting, the party’s demands regarding the budget were also discussed. Salvini described the meeting as ‘productive, practical and effective’ and confirmed that flexibility regarding retirement and the repeal of the Fornero law were among the priorities. The proposal referred to by the Deputy Prime Minister is to allow people to retire at 64 rather than 67, ‘as a matter of personal choice, not as an obligation’. Salvini reported that he had discussed this with Claudio Durigon, in the absence of the Minister for the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, who was ‘absent due to illness’, as the minister emphasised. Also on the agenda were the flat tax and amendments on security, including the call to increase the number of military personnel for the ‘Safe Roads’ programme to 10,000 by 2027. On the sidelines of the press briefing, Salvini also responded to a question regarding the possible incompatibility of Trifone Altieri’s role at ANAC, who has found himself at the centre of a storm over a conflict of interest between his political role within the League and a leading position at the head of the Authority that oversees public procurement – an organisation which, by definition, is autonomous and independent. “I expect everything to be entirely above board,” he said.