«The bridge project over the Strait of Messina is in open and repeated violation of European regulations on the environment and those relating to public works procurement». Thus Avs MEP Leoluca Orlando during this morning’s meeting in Brussels with Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for the Environment. The meeting – which saw the participation of Avs, Pd and 5 Star MEPs – was preceded by numerous discussions, including the one with the representatives of the No Bridge Committee. “I believe it is necessary to revolutionize the project and cancel the tender and the contract. We have denounced the Italian government’s attempt, with a series of forcing, incomplete and even untruthful data, to avoid giving up on the project”, added the MEP.
During the meeting, the procedure was denounced for its lack of foundation and also the non-existence of fundamental elements required on the environmental impact of the project and related works with repercussions on public safety, civil protection legislation and the health of the communities involved. «From an environmental point of view, the provisions of the European Directive 2024/1991 on the Restoration of Nature and the mandatory provisions for the protection of the affected sites declared as Natura 2000 sites are openly violated», added Orlando.
«I remembered that a fundamental structural element, i.e. the pylon on the Calabrian side, is located 20 meters from a fault that the government’s civil protection department has indicated as an area of absolute non-buildability. And this despite the Italian government having established in 2015 that no construction is permitted if new construction is less than 80 meters away.” For Orlando «the European and NATO military relief wrongly invoked by the Government is completely non-existent and also technically unfounded. Furthermore, the National Anti-Corruption Agency reiterated the need to proceed with a new tender and even invited the government itself to request a preliminary assessment from the European Court of Justice in reference to compliance with the procedure of the procurement directive”.