After the government's initial green light for new oil concessions sparked criticism from environmentalists/No Triv campaigners and the M5S component of the government, the government has now drafted an amendment to block the granting of around 36 exploratory permits.
Controversy has flared up once again around the subject of drilling, which periodically draws attention and stirs passions among supporters and opponents alike. This time, however, the situation is more complex. On one side, there are the environmentalists and the national No Triv Coordination, which accuses the government of having authorised exploratory concessions in areas of the Ionian Sea off Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria. On the other side is the Five Star component of the government, which maintains that it simply carried out decisions taken by the previous government and reiterates its opposition to drilling. Following fierce criticism in recent days, the government has decided to take remedial action and has drafted a 'drilling block' amendment to be tabled in the simplification decree. But the Lega is putting on the brakes, saying it is opposed to a "blanket no to drilling."
But let us look at how things actually stand.
In the Official Bulletin of Hydrocarbons and Georesources of 31 December 2018, published by the Ministry of Economic Development, three decrees were published relating to the Granting of a research permit for liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, conventionally to Global Med, for a period of six years, covering three areas:
The text of the decree authorises the use of airguns and specifically states: "the Airgun is currently considered the most effective technique for studying the geological characteristics of the marine subsoil, not only for the purposes of hydrocarbon exploration but also for scientific and civil protection purposes"; "there is found to be an absence of a proven cause-and-effect correlation between the impacts of Airguns on marine mammals."
The coordination's reaction was unequivocal. Speaking through one of its founders, constitutional law scholar Enzo di Salvatore, it published a post on Facebook reading: "For a full six months the government did not authorise any oil exploration or any (new) extraction activity. Now it has given in. The remarkable thing is that everything it opposed under previous governments is being reproduced by the government currently in office: the fact that exploration using the airgun is being authorised (when M5S had proposed making the use of such a technique a criminal offence); the fact that already-expired titles are being extended (when the Monti government and the Renzi government were harshly criticised for precisely this); the fact that the 750 sq km limit set out in the law is, in practice, circumvented at the moment when two contiguous permits are granted to the same multinational, each of which does not exceed 750 sq km (but the sum comes to almost 1,500 sq km)."
Environment Minister Sergio Costa, in a press release and subsequently in a Facebook post, explains that he plays no role in the matter and that "since becoming minister I have never signed authorisations to drill in our country and our seas, and I never will."
Costa reiterates that he did not become Environment Minister to drag Italy back into economic and environmental medievalism, and that the permits issued in recent days by the Mise are unfortunately the obligatory administrative completion of a yes given by the Ministry of the Environment under the previous government.
Economic Development Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Di Maio responds to those accusing him of having betrayed his electoral promises with a Facebook post in which he writes: "Today I am accused of having authorised drilling in the Ionian Sea. That is a lie. These 'hydrocarbon surveys' (which are not drillings) had been authorised by the previous government and in particular by the Ministry of the Environment under Minister Galletti, who had issued a favourable Environmental Impact Assessment. In December, an official at my ministry simply ratified what the old government had decided. He had no alternative, because otherwise he would have committed a criminal offence."
Enzo di Salvatore, in an interview on Radio Cusano Campus, maintains that the authorisation process could have been blocked by changing the regulatory framework. Minister Prestigiacomo had already done so in 2010 during the Berlusconi government, when, with proceedings under way for the granting of a title, she had requested and obtained a block on proceedings within the 12 nautical miles. On this occasion too, the proceedings could have been halted before the concession decree was issued, with no penalty incurred because the proceedings were still ongoing, but nothing was done and in six months of government no legislative proposal had been initiated to block exploratory concessions.
The government, according to a press release from the Mise, yesterday concluded the drafting of an amendment to the simplification decree providing for the introduction of the Plan for the Sustainable Energy Transition of Suitable Areas (Ptesai). The amendment states that 'upstream activities do not have a strategic and public utility character, nor are they urgent or non-deferrable.'
The amendment — as explained by Davide Crippa, Undersecretary for Economic Development with responsibility for energy — provides that until the Ptesai is approved, with a maximum deadline of three years, prospecting and research permits already granted will be suspended, as will proceedings for the granting of new prospecting or research permits or hydrocarbon production concessions. Thanks to this moratorium, the granting of around 36 titles currently pending — including the three permits issued in the Ionian Sea — will be prevented. The amendment will be discussed in the coming days in the joint Committees on Constitutional Affairs and Public Works, Communications.
Not everything is running smoothly, however. Speaking on the Porta a Porta programme, Salvini made it known that "Drilling close to the coast, no, but a blanket no to energy exploration in the open sea is also no. We cannot pretend the world has stopped." Undersecretary for the Environment Vannia Gava, also from the Lega, likewise expressed her opposition to blocking drilling authorisations, arguing that it is not possible to allow "fear to block development." In short, the matter is far from closed.