The Constitutional Court has declared partially inadmissible and partially unfounded the appeal filed by the Sardinia Region against certain provisions of Legislative Decree No. 84 of June 25, 2024, later converted into Law No. 115 of August 8, 2024, which contains urgent provisions on critical raw materials of strategic interest.

With ruling no. 136, filed today, the Constitutional Court rejected the Region's objections regarding an alleged infringement of its statutory powers . The appeal focuses on the provisions regarding the recognition of the strategic nature of certain projects for the extraction, processing, and recycling of critical raw materials , as well as authorization procedures, the initiation of research activities, and the approval of planning instruments in the sector.

A statement from the Constitutional Court states that " in the appeal, the Region argued that the contested provisions would have infringed its statutory legislative powers regarding the 'organization of the offices and administrative bodies of the Region and the legal and economic status of the staff', 'mineral and thermal waters', 'exercise of the Region's state and patrimonial rights relating to mines, quarries and saltworks', 'industry, trade and industrial operation of mines, quarries and saltworks', together with the corresponding administrative functions, and that they would also have violated Regulation No. 2024/1252/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, establishing a framework to ensure a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials."

Having declared some of the objections raised by the Region inadmissible, the Court affirmed on the merits that the contested provisions do not infringe upon regional legislative competences, as they were adopted in compliance with the constraints arising from the European Union legal system , constitute fundamental norms of economic and social reform, and are primarily related to cross-cutting matters of exclusive state competence, such as, in particular, the protection of competition and the environment. The Court concluded: "The contested provisions do not infringe upon the claimed administrative competences, as their classification as fundamental norms of economic and social reform and their relevance to cross-cutting matters of state competence require their uniform implementation throughout the country." The ruling therefore confirms the legitimacy of the state legislative framework.

(Unioneonline/vf)

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