Strait Bridge, government approves 'Iropi report': yes to public interest versus environmental impact

It is a passage of the Vinca and intervenes at level 3: that is, when a project despite having significant environmental impacts is considered essential and there are no alternative solutions. The Ponte sull'Stretto di Messina bridge takes a step forward and receives in the Council of Ministers, as the procedure prescribes, certification of the imperative reasons of significant public interest, the antechamber to final approval once the compensatory measures for environmental damage have been finalised and the European Commission has been notified. This further step brings the approval of the project by the Interministerial Committee for Economic and Social Planning (CIPESS), which will have to give the final go-ahead to the work, informs a note from the Ministry of Infrastructure led by Matteo Salvini. He emphasised that the Strait Bridge represents 'a priority work for the country and is close to the opening of construction sites'. Salvini highlighted the importance of this infrastructure, which 'means 120,000 direct and indirect jobs created throughout Italy, it means less pollution with 200,000 tonnes of Co2 not emitted into the air, it means saving an hour and a half by car and two hours by train, and it means giving work to a large number of companies throughout the country'.

Stretto di Messina's CEO, Pietro Ciucci, also commented positively on the approval of the so-called "Iropi report", which stands for "Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest". Ciucci stated that "the approval of the report is another fundamental step and will enable the planned communications to the European Commission for the completion of the Environmental Impact Assessment. - This will be followed by the examination of the final project and the economic-financial plan by Cipess, the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development. After the approval of the CIPESS, in the second half of 2025, the first works and the executive design of the entire project will be started,' he said.

Once the Vinca environmental process has been completed, the project will go to the CIPESS where it will have to pass the final test of design feasibility and that of the sustainability of the economic-financial plan, with the aim of ensuring that the work is not only feasible, but also environmentally and economically viable.