Italy

Basic information

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Mechanisms of Vertical Integration

National — sub-national linkages

The integration of different political levels is ensured by the “State-Regions Permanent Conference”, established in 1983, including representatives of national and sub-national political bodies. The State-Regions Permanent Conference is receiving increasing importance after the implementation of the devolution process and the reform of the national Constitution Act.

A “Technical Board on SD” (including representatives of the national and sub-national levels) has been set up to prepare the decisions to be adopted by the State-Regions Permanent Conference. The technical board has also the task of defining guidelines for SD strategies at the regional level. Furthermore, it represents the main link with the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Economic Planning (CIPE) by ensuring the participation of regional representatives in the NSDS process. CIPE is the main body responsible for coordination and horizontal integration of national policies.

In drafting the revised NSDS, a new approach was adopted to allow a better sharing of the draft document among the main actors involved in the implementation and to ensure a highly integrated vision of priorities. Both central and regional administrations, local authorities, non-governmental environmental and consumers associations, industry and business organizations and trade unions representatives reviewed the draft document. The consultation round was carried out during 14 meetings, involving more than 140 authorities and organizations.

Some regions have adopted during the last few years regional SD strategies aiming at building an overarching framework for their policies and be coherent with European and national level.

The implementation of LA 21 processes throughout the country has ensured an important contribution of local planning to be consistent with higher level SD strategies. The most important initiatives carried out by the national level have been the two notices for co-financing SD programs and for implementing LA 21. A total of € 25 Mio was made available for local administrations. Resources have been allocated, among others, to interventions for sustainable production and consumption (promotion of environmental management audit schemes for SMEs, co-funding of LA 21 initiatives, sustainable use of water resources).

EU linkages

The renewed EU Strategy for Sustainable Development (EU SDS) that was adopted in June 2006 foresees that Member States bi-annually report about how they address the priorities of the EU SDS. Italy has published its first national report on implementing the EU SDS in June 2007.

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Mechanisms of Horizontal Integration

The search for horizontal integration and coherence through integrated environmental policies is one of the most explicit aims of the Italian NSDS. Several measures are envisaged in this context, e.g. the application of the legislation on environmental protection; the integration of environmental issues within sectoral policies; environmental assessment of plans and programmes; integration of environmental factors into services and product market, etc.

The Technical Board of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Economic Planning’s (CIPE) Commission on SD is formed by representatives of the Ministry of Economy, the Regions and other Ministry representatives with competencies for SD policies. Representatives of national bodies providing information (e.g. National Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute for Energy, Environment and New Technologies) also participate in the Technical Board.

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Evaluation and Review

The Technical Board on SD of the CIPE, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, prepares annual assessment reports on the implementation of the NSDS, based on ten priority indicators. The reports are published in April of each year.

In the course of the preparation of its national implementation report of the EU SDS, Italy has also started to revise aspects and topics concerning the national level. This process might also lead to the compliance of the national SD priorities to those of the EU level, especially in the sectors considered to be of particular importance, such as 'climate change and clean energy' and 'sustainable transport'. Moreover, attention will be given to the environmental aspects included in the National Reform Programme (NRPs are the Lisbon Strategy equivalent at the Member State level), so as to create a better link between the two processes.

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Indicators and Monitoring

The Italian NSDS in general terms provides a set of 150 indicators directly linked to the priorities and key issues outlined in the strategy. Additionally, the key environmental indicators set by Barcelona’s European Council in 2002 are included in the document. The National Statistic Institute (ISTAT) is going to implement a national data base of indicators, in the form of time series, for the analysis of phenomena considered to be relevant for SD goals.

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Participation

All relevant stakeholders, such as ministries, environmental NGOs, trade unions, enterprises, local and regional authorities, were involved in the development of the revised NSDS. The public consultation involved 140 bodies/organizations in the course of 14 official meetings and through the use of a specific telematics forum accessible from the web site of the Ministry of the Environment.

For a detailed documentation of all advisory and participatory councils (for SD and/or the environment) in this country, please go to the EEAC website at http://www.eeac-net.org/bodies/italy/it_frame.htm and click on one of the listed institutions.

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Sub-national activities

According with the reform of the Italian Constitution in 2005, most competences in the field of environment and sustainable development have been transferred from the national to regional and local levels. The national level is responsible for the definition of environmental quality objectives and the general criteria for sectoral environmental policies. Regions are responsible for strategic planning and provinces and municipalities for the control and implementation of plans and programs. In view of the principle of subsidiarity, municipalities can be seen as the direct target of EU policies for urban sustainability and the importance of programmes for urban sustainability has been raised during the last few years.

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This Country Profile has been last updated on: Friday, 05 December 2008

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