Thirty-five years after Law /90 which established them and at the end of a parliamentary process lasting several years, the Chamber has given the green light to the final text of the framework law on interports. “A historic turning point,” commented Uir (Unione Interporti Riuniti), which provides the sector with a “modern regulatory instrument adequate to the changed needs of the sector.”
The text, whose first signatory is Fratelli d’Italia deputy Mauro Rotelli, “largely incorporates the vision promoted by Uir,” declared the president Matteo Gasparato, who subsequently described it as “a good base, from which to start later for further improvements.” “Now we await the start of an implementation phase that can effectively translate the principles of the law into concrete measures, capable of supporting the development, sustainability, and territorial balance of the national interport system,” added Gasparato.
Among the main novelties of the measure are the recognition of interports as strategic infrastructures of predominant national interest, as well as the presence of a unique regulatory definition of an interport. The text also offers a survey of the 25 existing interports, according to the Mit, with the provision to reach a maximum of 30. It also includes rules for the simplification of administrative and authorization procedures and establishes a new advisory body with tasks of coordination and planning of policies in the matter, namely the National Committee for Intermodality and Logistics. Article 6 then delegates to a decree of the MIT, to be adopted within 60 days of its entry into force, the definition of priority projects for the construction and development of interports, authorizing expenditure of 5 million euros for 2025, and 10 million per year for 2026 and 2027. Finally, it should be remembered that in Article 5 the text qualifies the management of interports as an economic-industrial and commercial activity, under private law, highlighting that the managers provide for the construction of new structures as well as “compatibly with the balance of their budget,” for the adaptation of those already operational, with a formulation that in recent weeks has led some stakeholders to raise doubts regarding its profiles of constitutional legitimacy.
