Superintendencies, Territorial Plans and a new Code to reform procedures

Harmonise, digitise, reinforce: these are the solutions to the bottlenecks caused by the landscape authorisation release times, which slow down even minor procedures. Or at least these are the opinions coming from those who work in the sector every day.

The National Association of Archaeologists explains that 'the current Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, although enacted in 2004, is strongly influenced by the 1939 protection law and no longer corresponds to today's needs for protection, management and valorisation. The regulatory operation, if not carried out in an organic manner, runs the risk of being partial and non-transparent, with the consequent burden of corrective operations'. And this is why the association proposes the launch of a conciliation roundtable for a complete and organic revision of the Code.

Also weighing on the permit problem are the Case Green directive and the energy transition goals for 2030. "What has been installed in the last four years," say the Photovoltaic Alliance, "represents only 22.1 per cent of the 2030 target. It means that Italy must significantly accelerate both project authorisations and plant construction to avoid a delay of 8.1 years'.

And to do so, it would also be appropriate to "review the authorisation procedures for the installation of renewable plants within suitable areas", identified by the regions on the basis of specific principles and criteria established by the Environment Minister's Decree of 21 June 2024, adopted with the Culture Minister, taking into account the need to protect the cultural heritage and landscape. "The plants to be built in such areas," they continue, "are subject to an authorisation procedure in which the Superintendence expresses a mandatory non-binding opinion, after which the administration will in any case process the application. A redundant and superfluous step, given the role already played upstream by the Ministry of Culture'.

Not only that: to date only six regions have adopted Territorial Landscape Plans (envisaged by Legislative Decree 42/2004), which guide the objective assessment of authorisation requests by local authority technicians. Hence the doubts on the introduction of silence-consent and the exclusion of 'minor' interventions from the opinion of the Superintendencies (Annex B of Presidential Decree 31/2017). 'Attributing greater decision-making autonomy to municipalities would only shift the problem from one administration to another,' they say from Confartigianato. 'There would be a risk that decision-making processes would be differentiated at a territorial level. In our opinion, it is necessary to valorise the Landscape Plans, as they are urban, territorial, descriptive, prescriptive and propositional tools, aimed at implementing in a coherent manner the policies for safeguarding the quality and diversity of the landscape'.