Bridge over the Strait, the decree enters the Chamber: the decisive week that can reignite (or extinguish) the dream of crossing

At 1:15 PM next Tuesday a microphone click will reopen a dossier that Italy has been pursuing for over half a century. The so-called “bridge decree” arrives at its first parliamentary crossroads, along with a mosaic of regulations designed to untangle the technical, accounting, and regulatory knots that have stalled the Bridge over the Strait of Messina. The examination will be in first reading at the Senate, with one of the rapporteurs indicated in the figure of the president of the Commission, Claudio Fazzone (Forza Italia). The conversion must be completed by the deadline of May 10, 2026.

What’s in the “bridge decree”

The core of the decree-law is a restructuring of governance and procedures around the project, with three declared objectives: to strengthen coordination among central administrations; to align the procedure with the observations of the Court of Auditors and the European Commission; to provide certainty regarding timelines and responsibilities through extraordinary commissioners for access works and framework regulations on concessions.

According to what is illustrated in notes and official reconstructions, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (Mit) assumes the role of control room: it will oversee the preparatory obligations – including updating the economic-financial plan (PEF), obtaining the opinion of the Transport Regulation Authority (ART) on tariffs, the transition to the Higher Council of Public Works – and formal dialogue with the European Commission to verify the full compatibility of the project with EU law.

On the operational responsibilities front, the decree identifies the extraordinary commissioners for access works: the CEO of RFI, Aldo Isi, for the railway part in Sicily and Calabria, and – in parallel for the road component on several strategic construction sites – the CEO of ANAS, Claudio Gemme. The intention is to proceed “in parallel” with the main work, in order to avoid the classic bottleneck of land connections.

A significant difference compared to drafts circulated at the end of January is the abandonment of the figure of the "super-commissioner" as a single entity, initially suggested for the CEO of Stretto di Messina S.p.A., Pietro Ciucci: the version approved by the Cdm incorporates technical and institutional observations, redistributing functions and controls and bringing the focus back to the Mit.

Why this decree was reached: the stops from the Court of Auditors and European issues

The government's decision to present a specific decree is the result of a sequence of formal observations and "stops" from the accounting judges. On October 29 of last year, the Court of Auditors denied the legitimacy and registration of the CIPESS resolution regarding the Bridge, which approved the final project, citing – among other aspects – the need to clarify the applicable legal framework, compatibility with European directives on habitats and contracts, and the completeness of the PEF and mandatory opinions (particularly that of the ART on toll rates). In subsequent documents and notes, the accounting judges explicitly referenced two EU directives and the gaps in the tariff plan.

On a strictly economic level, the observations also addressed the misalignment between the estimates certified by third parties and the approved economic frameworks: for example, the Court requested justification for the difference between the amount certified by KPMG as of July 25, 2025 (approximately 10.481 billion euros) and that indicated in the economic framework of August 6, 2025 (approximately 10.509 billion), confirming the need for a precise and updated review of costs and funding sources.

Moreover, in November 2025, the accounting judges also "stopped" the inter-ministerial decree that approved the third supplementary act to the Mit–Stretto di Messina agreement, with further requests for clarifications. It is in this context that the government deemed it necessary to implement a comprehensive package of regulations to realign the acts and phase the approval process.

Concessions and large construction sites: what changes beyond the Bridge

The decree is not limited to the Bridge: it includes system regulations on concessions and commissariamenti. There are two main directions: a "national standard tender" to standardize procedures for maritime state concessions, aiming to align Italian regulations with European principles in view of tenders and to reduce disputes; the reorganization of extraordinary commissioners for major road and rail works, with accelerating powers and – in some cases – specific financial allocations.

Regarding beach concessions, the line announced by the Mit is to define the standard schemes quickly to allow Municipalities to call for tenders that are coherent and defensible at the European level; a sensitive issue, after years of extensions and EU censures. It remains to be seen what the final scope of the measures in conversion will be, also in light of the observations already received from independent authorities and technical bodies.

Accounting, coverage, and priorities: keeping the accounts in order before the construction sites

The pre-conversion phase has also intersected with the checks of the General Accounting Office of the State on some spending profiles and the medium-term effects of the regulations, confirming that this is not only an engineering matter but also an accounting one. In particular, it has been requested to keep emergency interventions on the commissioner bodies as much as possible “zero-sum” and to precisely circumscribe the items that impact the funding needs.

Meanwhile, the financial site of the Bridge has faced setbacks and realignments: the lack of approval from the Court of Auditors for the CIPESS resolution has frozen flows and timelines, prompting the government to reaffirm – even with budget measures – the intention to proceed, while recalibrating the multi-year trajectory of resources and discussing with Brussels the updated architecture of the PEF.

The role of Stretto di Messina S.p.A. and the issue of “contracting authorities”

On the implementation side, Stretto di Messina S.p.A. – the concessionaire – has consolidated, in the last year, the requirements of qualified contracting authority with ANAC, a step considered necessary to manage the tender procedures for contracts, services, and supplies related to the project independently. The qualification is now an operational piece in the framework redefined by the decree.

A phased process, with technical and legal “check-points”

The logic of the measure is to break down the process into phases with specific technical and legal "check-points": first, the securing of the prerequisite acts (agreement and additional acts), with submission to the legitimacy control of the Court of Auditors; then the update of the PEF, accompanied by the opinion of the ART on tariffs and the technical opinions of the Higher Council of Public Works;

finally, the reformulation and adoption of the new CIPESS resolution approving the project, supported by a documentation package aligned with EU directives and the requests of the accounting magistrates.

For the environmental chapter, the decree outlines a dedicated procedure for the implementation of the Habitat Directive along the Strait, coordinating the opinions of the competent administrations: a path that attempts to address, in substance, one of the most sensitive points raised in the motivations of the Court.

Politics under scrutiny: majority, opposition, and territories

On the political front, the majority claims the decree as the tool that "brings the project back to earth," regulates it, and puts it on a path of European compliance; on the other side, opposition and environmental committees speak of a text that "adjusts the form" without resolving substantial doubts about costs, sustainability, and priorities. In several instances, critical representatives have evoked the risk of an "implicit state shield" in the initial drafts and have called for strengthening preventive controls; the version that reached the Cdm has removed the figure of the initially planned "super-commissioner," recalibrating the powers.

In the territories, attention remains focused on the adjustment of the access networks: railway routes such as the Battipaglia–Reggio Calabria or the road axes in the metropolitan area of Messina are considered crucial to prevent the Bridge from becoming an infrastructural bottleneck. The mandate to RFI and ANAS in a commissarial key goes in this direction, with the declared aim of synchronizing construction sites and milestones.

The numbers (and uncertainties) of the PEF

On the table remain the numbers: the differential between the certified estimates and the economic frameworks of summer 2025, the projection of costs updated to reflect material inflation and the evolution of energy prices, the allocation between state resources, potential mobilization of private capital, and tariff flows. The Court of Auditors has requested a stringent verification of the economic-financial plan, including demand scenarios and tariff criteria, also in light of the necessary opinion from the ART. The decree assigns the Mit the task of orchestrating this review, with “stampable” and verifiable documents.

The next steps: hearings, amendments, vote

With the establishment in Commission, the hearings of technical and institutional subjects will begin (from Mit to Ragioneria, from RFI and ANAS to Stretto di Messina S.p.A., up to ART and ANAC), along with the issue of amendments. The majority aims for a quick passage to vote in the Chamber and a “blind” first reading to meet the deadline of May 10; the opposition has announced a battle over governance, controls, and funding. In the meantime, a technical verification by the Ragioneria on individual provisions may still suggest micro-corrections.

Why this week matters more than others

If the decree passes without disruptions, the government can methodically restart – and under legal protection – the chain of acts: first the agreement, then the CIPESS, and finally the tenders. If, however, a diluted or conflicting text arrives from the Senate with the constraints of the Court of Auditors and EU law, the risk is to return to square one, with “on-ground” construction sites ready but a resolution for project approval still exposed to objections. Aside from the symbolic value of the Bridge, the decree measures the administrative reliability of the country in completing complex works within the framework of the rule of law and European regulations. It will measure, in front of citizens and Europe, Italy's ability to hold together vision, rigor, and realization. May 10 is already around the corner.