Italy’s Lazio regional administrative court has thrown out the environmental approval for the Fiumicino-Isola Sacra tourist and cruise port near Rome, putting a €600m ($685m) Royal Caribbean-linked development into legal limbo, according to Lipu-BirdLife Italia.
The July 3 ruling upheld an appeal by Comitato Tavoli del Porto, Unione Inquilini Fiumicino, Associazione Saifo, Lipu-BirdLife Italia and 18 residents of Fiumicino and Isola Sacra. Italia Nostra, Filt Cgil and Ancip intervened in support.
The court cancelled the environmental impact assessment decree issued by Italy’s Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, in agreement with the Ministry of Culture, for the Fiumicino-Isola Sacra tourist and cruise port project.
At the heart of the case was the way the scheme had been classified. The court found that the project had been handled as a tourist port even though it included a material cruise component, including a dedicated cruise pier, home-port operations for about 200 days a year and potential traffic of about 1.3m tourists through the port area.
The ruling said the project should be treated as a multifunctional port with a substantial passenger-cruise function, bringing it under Italy’s port-sector framework. It also found that the Municipality of Fiumicino was not entitled to act as the proponent of the environmental impact assessment.
The decision is a serious setback for Fiumicino Waterfront, which had put the investment at about €600m ($685m). The company had said the project would support around 2,000 jobs per year during a four-year construction phase and create more than 5,000 permanent jobs once operational.
Fiumicino Waterfront had also said the scheme could contribute more than €500m ($571m) to GDP during construction and about €400m ($457m) annually during operations. The company has indicated that it will appeal within the procedures and deadlines provided by law.
Royal Caribbean Group is a cruise vacation company operating through wholly owned cruise brands including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea.