Infrastructure Decree, new flight rates and Strait Bridge in draft

Sixteen articles, an open construction site on paper: the draft of the Infrastructure Decree 2025 moves between large-scale works and small regulatory chisel strokes. From the Bridge over the Strait of Messina to air fares under the public service regime, passing through the Procurement Code , Pnrr and motorway concessions , the menu of the Ministry led by Matteo Salvini has nothing light. The text, still in its embryonic phase and under the magnifying glass of the General Accounting Office of the State, shows an ambitious, but not definitive, approach. While waiting for official ink, let's see the main chapters of the provision updated to 12 May 2025.

Strait Bridge, what changes with the Infrastructure Decree 2025: costs, tenders and guarantees

The new decree dedicates ample space to the Bridge over the Strait of Messina , a symbolic work of the ministry. The company Stretto di Messina SpA , responsible for the works, will be included in the Anac list of contracting authorities, thus being able to directly manage the tender procedures for contracts and supplies related to the Bridge. Furthermore, the costs of the contracts for the construction of the work may be adjusted during the course of the work but with a maximum ceiling of +50%, in line with the limits set by EU legislation.

Another new development concerns financial guarantees for major projects (those over 2 billion euros, therefore also the Bridge itself). The draft provides for a significant reduction in the parameter for compensation in the event of resolution: the minimum threshold of 20% of the value of the project may be lowered to 3% . In practice, the burden of guarantees required from companies is lightened for this strategic project, a choice that aims to facilitate the start of work by containing the financial costs borne by the concessionaire.

The crackdown on subcontracting explained point by point

In the public procurement chapter, the decree addresses the recent crackdown on subcontracting introduced by the new Contracts Code. The rule introduced at the end of 2024 (corrective decree) prohibits contracting companies from using, for the purposes of their own Soa qualification , the work carried out by subcontractors. According to the Ministry, it is a matter of putting subcontractors back at the center of the scene and putting a stop to the habit of certain general contractors of making work that is not their own shine on their CV.

This rule, however, did not please those involved in public tenders . The National Association of Building Contractors (Ance) believes that not recognizing subcontracted work to main contractors, not even to prove experience, penalizes general contractors and their coordination work, reducing the participation of SMEs in tenders.

The Infrastructure Decree 2025 should therefore include an application clarification on this discipline, to better define its effects on Soa certifications and ensure an orderly transition to the new regime (for example with guidelines or transitional provisions during the first application phase).

Infrastructure Decree and PNRR: the latest on the financed works coming soon

The measure also affects some works financed by the Pnrr . In particular, a draft measure concerns the new Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed railway line , included among the Pnrr projects. It is expected that urban redevelopment and environmental mitigation programs and projects connected to the construction of the first lot of this line can be financed up to 2% of the cost of the intervention , drawing on the resources of the economic framework of the work, and in any case for a maximum of 60 million euros . A small portion of the budget of the work can be allocated to complementary works in the territory, without requiring additional funds outside the Pnrr.

Motorway concessions and tolls, how the system is changing

On the motorway concession front, the 2025 decree aims to strengthen the role of tariff regulation . The Transport Regulation Authority (ART) is strengthened in defining tolls: we would move from the current mechanism in which the Ministry approves the proposed tariffs on a case-by-case basis, to a system in which the Authority directly adopts the tariff model valid for all concessionaires. The system becomes unique, with tolls entrusted to the Transport Authority and a regulatory system that aims to reduce the margins for maneuver behind the scenes to a minimum.

Another new development concerns the management of new tenders for expiring concessions . To speed up the start of tenders, the draft allows the Ministry (Mit) to prepare in “excerpt” mode the list of extraordinary maintenance interventions to be included in the tender specifications, even before the complete economic-financial plan is presented.

This faculty, foreseen on a transitional basis for the three years following the entry into force of the decree, would allow for the more rapid issuing of new motorway concessions.

Flight fare cap in the 2025 Infrastructure decree: who will benefit?

In the field of air transport, the high cost of flights to peripheral destinations (islands and remote areas) is addressed. The draft revises the measure introduced in 2023, confirming the possibility of a cap on flight fares in the event of price spikes due to seasonality or extraordinary events, but limiting it to certain categories of passengers.

Not all travellers will benefit from the price cap, but only some protected categories (for example residents, students or workers commuting from the islands, according to criteria to be defined). The measure recalls the European framework on public service obligations , allowing the competent authority to set maximum fares practicable by airlines for these categories when necessary.