Analysis
Court shuts down Salvini’s Messina Strait boondoggle, possibly for good
This halt could mark the definitive abandonment of the controversial and highly contested plan.
The three separate supplements provided by technicians from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT), the economic planning department (DIPE) and the Prime Minister’s Office in just under two months were not enough: the Court of Auditors’ Central Section for Legitimacy Control has invalidated the resolution by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning (CIPESS) that had given the green light to the Messina Strait bridge project back in August. The Court will provide its reasoning for the ruling within the next 30 days.
The ruling, which arrived shortly after 8 p.m. on Wednesday, landed like an asteroid aimed straight at the plan for a permanent link between the two shores of the Messina Strait. It also shattered the assurances confidently put forward just that afternoon by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, who has made the €13.5 billion mega-project his primary pet issue.
This halt could mark the definitive abandonment of the controversial and highly contested plan. The Transport Minister, however, put up a confident front: “The Court of Auditors’ decision is a serious blow to the country and appears to be a political choice rather than an impartial technical judgment,” he commented on the spot. “I didn’t stop when I had to defend the borders, and I will not stop now. We are determined to pursue every possible path to get the works started. We are moving forward.”
On the same wavelength was Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who declared even before the Lega leader: “This is yet another act of encroachment by the judiciary on the decisions of the government and Parliament.”
In the midst of the ongoing battle over justice reform (which, on the fiscal liability side, also concerns the structure of the Court of Auditors itself), Meloni also lashed out at the magistrates: “On a technical level, the relevant ministries and the Prime Minister’s Office provided timely answers to all the objections raised for today’s hearing. To give you an idea of the level of nitpicking, one of the criticisms concerned the transmission of large documents via a link, as if the magistrates were unaware of the existence of computers. The constitutional reform of the judiciary and the reform of the Court of Auditors, both under discussion in the Senate and nearing approval, represent the most appropriate response to an intolerable interference, which will not stop the actions of the government, supported by Parliament.”
The truth, however, is that the halt was not at all unexpected, given the numerous critical issues that the accounting magistrates – the first independent body to substantively review the bridge plan – had raised in recent weeks. These critical issues concerned the project's procedural aspects, the overly optimistic estimates of the traffic the bridge would see, and its compliance with European regulations from both an economic and environmental perspective.
Meanwhile, the opposition in Parliament, the citizens' committees and the environmental NGOs arrayed against the project are celebrating. “Meloni, with her serious statements against the Court of Auditors, makes clear what the true objective of the constitutional reform is. It is not a reform that would serve to improve justice, nor would it serve the Italian people. It would serve this government, allowing it to have a free hand and place itself above the law and the Constitution,” said Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein.
AVS leader Angelo Bonelli, after clashing sharply with Salvini during the previous afternoon's question time, called for the Transport Minister's resignation: “Justice won, the law won. Salvini has held the country hostage with his madness, taking €14 billion from the state for a project that has never been validated by any state technician or body: a 25-year-old project that violates European environmental and competition directives. This is Salvini’s political and institutional failure, and he must now resign.”
The same demand came from the Five Star Movement (M5S), with Senator Barbara Floridia commenting: “Today is the momentous day when propaganda clashed against reality and, as is obvious, ended up the loser. Now the time has come to close this chapter and give concrete solutions to citizens.”
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/corte-dei-conti-no-al-ponte-meloni-invasione-di-campo on 2025-10-29