MOSE Project - Appeals

Appeals

During the years, nine appeals have been presented. Eight have been rejected by the TAR and the Council of State. The ninth, currently being examined by the Administrative Tribunal, was presented by Venice Local Authority and contests the favourable opinion of the Safeguard Venice Commission on the commencement of work in the Pellestrina site at the Malamocco inlet where part of the MOSE gate housing caissons will be made using processes which, according to the Local Authority, could damage a site of particular natural interest.

As regards the environmental damage caused by work currently underway, environmental associations have also requested the intervention of the European Union, as the activities affect sites protected by the Nature 2000 Network and by the European Directive on birds. Following the report of 5 March 2004 by the Venetian MP Luana Zanella, on 19 December 2005 the European Commission opened an infraction procedure against Italy for "pollution of the habitat" of the lagoon, given that the European Environmental Commission Directorate General considers that as it has "neither identified nor adopted — in relation to the impacts on the area ‘IBA 064-Venice Lagoon’ resulting from construction of the MOSE project — appropriate measures to prevent pollution and deterioration of the habitat, together with harmful disturbance of birds with significant consequences in the light of the objectives of article 4 of EEC Directive 79/409, the Italian Republic has not fulfilled the obligations deriving from article 4, paragraph 4, of EEC Directive 79/409 of the Council of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds". Specifying that the aim of the initiative is not to stop MOSE, the European Environmental Commission has called on the Italian Government to produce new information on the impact of the sites and the environmental mitigation structures. The Water Authority and Consorzio Venezia Nuova confirm that the work sites are temporary and will be completely restored at the end of the work.