Italian court rejects plan for $15.65bn bridge to Sicily

Italy's plan to build a €13.5-billion ($15.65 billion) bridge over the Strait of Messina, planned as the first fixed link between Sicily and the mainland, has run into trouble with a court refusing to authorise the construction of the bridge.

Italy’s Court of Auditors, which overseas public spending, last month refused to authorise the construction, said a Global Construction Review report.  

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 October 29 after a hearing that day, saying it would publish its reasoning within 30 days.

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.

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 reported.

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.