Italian bill threatens to weaken heritage protection agencies

A new bill introduced in the Italian Senate by the Lega and Fratelli d'Italia parties could extend silent consent to private projects and further reduce the powers of the Sovrintendenze, the state bodies responsible for protecting cultural heritage. Some Fratelli d'Italia senators told Repubblica that "protection is sacred but often becomes an alibi for managers not to sign documents." The Sovrintendenze have played a fundamental role in safeguarding Italy's territory, but their workload has grown while staffing and budgets have not kept pace. Critics argue that superintendents sometimes exercise veto power arbitrarily, hindering innovation and large projects. Supporters defend them as guardians of national heritage against unscrupulous developers. The agencies themselves are struggling with both quantitative and qualitative staffing shortages, exacerbated by new technologies, and face a growing backlog of cases. According to a timeline by Cecchi in his Abbecedario, starting a restoration of a cultural asset requires nineteen months, over half of which are mandated by law. The article argues that the Sovrintendenze are being slowly drained, with sporadic but vocal attacks on their work, without creating conditions for improvement. It concludes that if the agencies are to exist, they must be enabled to work properly, regardless of one's stance on their role.