Italy's Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal by Taranto-based prosecutors who sought to have production at local steel producer Ilva halted due to environmental concerns. The court stated that the so-called ‘Save Ilva' decree issued last December authorizing Ilva to produce and sell steel adheres to Italy's constitution because the objections raised by the prosecutors were "partly groundless and partly inadmissible".
According to the court, the law in question has no impact "on the assessment of responsibilities in criminal proceedings" and it has no influence "on the assessment of responsibilities caused by disregard of the requirements of environmental protection, and in particular of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), in respect of which, as an administrative act, ordinary legal remedies provided by law are possible."
"The court's judgments are to be respected," said Taranto prosecutor Franco Sebastio, while Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini stated, "The decision is binding on all to continue with rigor and speed in the direction of the environmental remediation."
In line with the court decision, Ilva should see the cancellation of the seizure of €1.7 billion worth of steel and should resume full-scale production.
