Coincidences are cursed for bad thoughts. The decree that effectively cancels the Autonomous Region of Sardinia to transform it into an "energy colony" of the Italian state crosses the threshold of Palazzo Chigi in the crucial week for the American advent on the sea of Sant'Efisio, in the Gulf of Angels. All coincidences, until proven otherwise. Certainly, however, those overlapping dates are a fatality that Sardinia will pay dearly. On the one hand, a decree of the President of the Council of Ministers, now imminent, which forever erases the hope of an island on a par with other Italian and European regions and on the other the "closing" of the stars and stripes operation to climb the company and the projects destined to skewer 93 gigantic wind turbines in the Gulf that once belonged to the Angels, from Sarroch to Nora, from Saras to Capo Carbonara, to Villasimius.
Piano Sardinia colony
The wind and photovoltaic invasion plan, on land and at sea, of Sardinia travels on different but parallel roads. Both travel in the same direction and aim for the same destination: Sardinia. On one side Palazzo Chigi, on the other Piazza degli Affari, in the heart of the Milanese city. The final text of the “Sardinia Energy Colony” decree has just entered the palace of political power, the one that will be commissioner in all respects for the Sardinian Region. In the stock exchange building in Milan, on the other hand, the signing of the “closing” is expected to transform the green company that belonged to the Italian steel family into American. On the one hand Mario Draghi, the former banker of Europe who became President of the Council of Ministers by divine call, and on the other hand the most avid supporters of the Italian government in office, the bankers of the largest American financial coffer, that of JPMorgan.
Connections in red
One thing is certain, this is the crucial week for those strange political, energy and business coincidences, capable of transforming themselves in a moment into disruptive and disastrous certainties for the fate of Sardinia. It is difficult to hypothesize a direction of the coincidences, in the calendar, however, the dates are circled in red. The first move was marked by Falck Renewables, the company of the Falck family that planned the landing in Sardinia with two gigantic offshore wind projects, one in the Golfo degli Angeli and one at an advanced stage in the waters of the Costa Smeralda. The communication to the Milan Stock Exchange was dated 14 February last. The content of the letter to Piazza degli Affari is technical: all the conditions for the acquisition, by the Infrastructure Investments Fund (IIF), the fund of JPMorgan, of 60% of the capital of Falck Renewables have been met. Hence, the American bank can buy. The date of the signature is set ten days after the announcement. On February 24th it will be signed.
Bad thoughts
Coincidences, again, don't mitigate bad thoughts. The day after the announcement on the Stock Exchange of the date of the Italian-American “closing”, the Minister of Ecological Transition dissolved his reservation on the “Sardegna Colonia” Decree. It is 18.43 minutes on February 15 when the physicist lent to politics transmits the text to his colleagues, Giancarlo Giorgetti at Economic Development and Enrico Giovannini at Infrastructures.
The snail ferrarista
A timing, however, that certainly cannot be defined as an inveterate sprinter. Of Roberto Cingolani, (pictured left) Minister of Draghi's magic circle, one could say anything, but not that in his professional life he had not espoused the cause of extreme speed. It is no coincidence, in fact, that, just before crossing the ministerial throne, he had to run left and right to resign from his top positions in the state-owned missile factory, Leonardo, and even of the red Ferrari of Maranello. That spatial nature for supersonic speed, however, collapsed miserably with the pace of delays and coincidences of the Palazzo.
The sneaky decree
The neocolonial decree to impose the energy fate of the state on Sardinia, the one that Draghi will have to sign, was envisaged with a legislative provision with a title as captivating as it is devious: "Governance of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and first measures to strengthen administrative structures and acceleration and streamlining of procedures ". The number of the law is 108, which entered into force on June 1, 2021. It is in that text, with the rank of ordinary law, that the procedure for imposing everything and more on Sardinia was decided, effectively committing it to both on the level of substantial choices in the energy field and on the decision-making and administrative level.
Thirty endless days
The device provided: "Within thirty days from the date of entry into force of this provision, by decree of the President of the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the Minister of Ecological Transition, in agreement with the Minister of Economic Development and the Minister of Infrastructures and sustainable mobility, the works and infrastructures necessary for the "phase out" of the use of coal on the island are identified ». Thirty days from the entry into force of the law, or the provision had to be adopted by 1 July 2021.
240 days late
That proposal for a decree, known as "Dpcm Sardegna", however, never arrived at Palazzo Chigi, on Mario Draghi's desk, within those terms. Those thirty days have become eight months, in spite of the acceleration of the procedures and the urgent need. Two hundred and forty days of delays and a shuddering coincidence. The text of the decree, in fact, clearly and unequivocally marks the real projects of the government, which inevitably coincide with those that prompted the Americans to launch the takeover bid for Falck Renawables, the renewable energy company that most of all it was pushed into the invasion of the Sardinian sea. The decree, which Draghi has not yet signed, will not be examined by the Parliament and even less by the Sardinian Region. The text will come into force as soon as Mario Draghi affixes his final seal, conceivable already in the first days of this week.
Knock from Amato
And for Sardinia there will be no other way: suffer the shame of a commissioner, or knock on the door of Giuliano Amato, the new President of the Constitutional Court. Moreover, in the text that Cingolani transmitted to his colleagues, before sending it to Palazzo Chigi, he never mentioned the Sardinia Region. Never. Even the most elementary ritual formulas are not read, such as: “felt” the Region. None of this. In the documents, at least formally, there is not even a minimum institutional and political dialogue. A decree that risks, therefore, to be immediately due to political compliance by all those involved, both in Sardinia and in Rome, with the majority supporting the government of the country.
Historical Vulnus
The vulnus, however, risks being very serious for the regional autonomy. Failure to appeal against Draghi's imminent decree (the Region has sixty days to appeal to the Constitutional Court from its entry into force) risks setting a precedent that will indelibly mark regional autonomy. Just one element is enough to understand the relevance of this act in the relations between the State and the Region. In the latest constitutional clash between Viale Trento and Palazzo Chigi, the High Court sanctioned a clear, albeit questionable, principle: co-planning between the State and the Region is mandatory in urban planning and landscape matters. In practice, according to the Court, especially in landscape matters, the Region, despite having exclusive competence, cannot decide without the involvement of the State.
One-way powers
In this now forthcoming decree, however, the State effectively cancels not only the principle of the obligatory “Co-planning”, but also the right of the Region to participate in environmental and landscape decisions regarding energy. Consider, for example, the government's plan to install at least three times the existing wind turbines on the island. Without viale Trento's recourse to the Constitutional Court, a tombstone would be placed on the primary competence of the Region in the “Government of the Territory”, in addition to the specific one regarding “Energy”. We will be faced with a commissioned Region in its own autonomy foundation, giving the green light to a colonial energy plan with the Draghi Government deployed, without hesitation, in support of that devastating wind invasion, on sea and on land, which risks marking forever the future of the Island. To all this, then, we must add the chapter on gas. The projects of Palazzo Chigi target the energetic Middle Ages: barges, tank wagons and differentiated rates to the stars. A lot, coincidentally, the Americans earn.
