Overview

• Mayor Piero Bitetti announced on August 6 that he will not sign the government’s proposed program agreement for ex-Ilva, calling it incomplete and lacking concrete guarantees for Taranto.
• Bitetti and his center-left majority have proposed a special decree-law to enforce total decarbonization within five years, ensure public health and environmental safeguards, protect employment and fund industrial reconversion and urban regeneration.
• On August 7, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy updated the asset-sale tender to mandate immediate shutdown of coal-fired areas, the installation of up to three electric furnaces and full compliance with the new integrated environmental authorization.
• The binding tender, shaped by a July 31 consensus among national, regional and local authorities, requires binding green offers by September 15 and gives priority to bids that ensure production continuity, job protection and the fastest decarbonization timeline.
• A pivotal ministerial meeting is scheduled for August 12, when officials will press Mayor Bitetti to clarify Taranto’s position and attempt to bridge the local-national divide before the tender deadline.