The Government says it does not want a clash with the judiciary on the Ilva case, but what lies ahead is not exactly an idyll. The Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council, Antonio Catricalà, revealed this morning to Gr1 that the Executive could appeal to the Constitutional Court. They are in the viewfinder the measures of the Gip of Taranto, Patrizia Todisco, who forced the factory to suspend its activity, also removing the post of commissioner from the former prefect Bruno Ferrante. The seizure of six areas of the iron and steel plant, ordered as part of the investigation into the alleged pollution linked to dioxin emissions, was therefore confirmed.
“We start from the assumption that the protection of health and the environment is a fundamental value that the Government also wants to pursue and also from the assumption that we respect the judges' sentences – said Catricalà -. However, sometimes these sentences do not seem proportionate with respect to the legitimate aim they want to pursue: we will ask the Constitutional Court to verify whether one of our powers has not been impaired: the power to make industrial policy".
For the undersecretary, “the immediate closure would be a very serious fact for the national economy. Not only for Puglia, but for the entire steel production in Italy”. On the same line the Minister of Economic Development, Corrado Passera, who defined in an interview with La Stampa the closure an “irreparable damage”. The Government's line is therefore to guarantee the environmental remediation avoiding at all costs that this implies the total suspension of the activity.
“With a decree law in line with a precise orientation of the Court of Freedom, we have established to continue the processes that are not harmful, which are not harmful and in the meantime to seriously begin the recovery policy – recalled Catricalà again -. And we've set aside hundreds of millions for just that. This law decree would be worthless if the industry were to stop working, if the oven were to shut down”.
However, the least diplomatic position is that of the Minister of the Environment, Conrad Clini, who speaking on Rai1 clearly said that he "does not share the position of the investigating magistrate, which is not for the rehabilitation but for the shutdown of the systems. The laws must be respected and the competent authority is the Minister of the Environment, together with the Region. There is a very clear distinction of roles” with the judiciary “and I think it should be respected”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mario Monti, who is personally coordinating the action of the Executive on the Ilva case, has asked the competent ministers to go in Taranto on 17 August. In addition to Passera and Clini, the holder of Justice will also arrive in the Apulian capital, Paola Severino, who today asked to acquire the two provisions of the investigating magistrate.
The three ministers “will have to speak with the President of the Region, with the Province, with the Municipality – concluded Catricalà -. Let's hope they can also talk to the public prosecutor. It is clear that they will also have to talk to Ilva. The mission is very important and could also serve to avoid appeal to the Constitutional Court".
