There has been a strong shock for the Region with the arrest of Flaminia Tosini, regional director for Environmental Policies and Waste Recycling, for “corruption, extortion and interfering with the procedure for awarding tenders”.

The arrest is primarily in connection with allegations that the director “illegally monitored and governed” the integrated cycle of urban waste in the Region. However, other areas are also being examined, such as environmental impact assessments on renewable energy, where the generosity with which the Region issued authorisations for solar and wind farms stands out, despite opposing views from the Ministry of Cultural and Environmental Heritage (MIBACT). It is interesting to note that two recent decisions by the Council of State and the Lazio Regional Administrative Court have confirmed the precedence of environmental and landscape protection, respectively, over support for renewable energy and urban planning.

With regard to these authorisations, the investigators speak of a dense network of business and political relationships, with the director at the centre. In light of the arrest, environmental associations are calling for the execution of these authorisations to be suspended and reviewed.