* Admissibility date reflects the date the case was officially registered. All other dates pertain to the date in which a stage was completed.
Case Description
The project concerns the construction at the three inlets of the Venice lagoon (Lido, Malamocca and Chioggia) of breakwaters and mobile barriers (MoSE System), designed to protect Venice from extreme flood and storm events whilst minimizing impacts on the lagoon ecosystem.
The complaint concerns breaches of EU and national environmental law with regard to the environmental impact assessment for the Project carried out by at a national level as well as breaches of EIB’s Statement of Environmental and Social Principles and Standards (the EIB Statement) during the EIB’s services’ appraisal. T the Complainant claimed the EIB’s withdrawal from the operation.
In the context of the project preparation the Italian State Audit Court (SAC) had already had the opportunity to pronounce on several cases brought before it. The EIB-Complaints Mechanism took note of the fact despite this and following the rejections of cases brought before it, the SAC did not feel the need to make any specific recommendation. Therefore, no further action is required as regards the alleged breach of the EIA/lSEA Directives. Regarding the alleged breach of the Birds and Habitats Directive, the infringement procedure against the Italian Republic for breach of EC law was settled in 2009 only following an agreement between the European Commission and the national authorities on a plan including mitigation and compensation measures as well as monitoring activities to be carried out in the Project area. Normally the standard clauses of the Finance Contract stipulate that the promoter proceeds in accordance with such agreement with the EC. However, in order to avoid any ambiguity, the Finance Contract now contains as a condition precedent for a first disbursement, that this infringement procedure is closed and that the action plan agreed between the EC and the Italian State is respected to the Bank’s satisfaction. Moreover, , standard clauses in the Finance Contract further require that the promoter respects the final and formal pronouncement of bodies, including the SAC, and that the Bank shall require regular updates through the reporting arrangements.