Le grandi navi nella laguna di Venezia e la Convenzione Unesco del 1972.

The adoption by the Italian Government of the Decree-Law no. 45 of 1 April 2021 and, on the other hand, the progressive lifting of COVID-19 cruise restrictions have reignited the debate on the navigation of large cruise ships through the Giudecca Canal, in the historic centre of Venice, and more generally in the Lagoon. The main innovation of the recent Decree-Law (duly approved by the Parliament) is a clear assertion of the will of the Italian Government to pursue, in the medium term, a solution involving the prohibition on large ships from entering the Lagoon. This article intends to illustrate the measures envisaged over the last years by Italian authorities in order to tackle the issue and to assess the impact exerted upon the planning and implementation of these provisions by the decisions of the organs established by the Unesco 1972 World Heritage Convention (since 1987 the site ‘Venice and its Lagoon’ has been inscribed on the World Heritage List). The article first analyses the obligations imposed by the 1972 Convention on State parties, with regard to the management of World Heritage sites, underscoring the relevance of a number of developments which have emerged from the practice in the application of the Convention (inter alia, the ’reactive monitoring’ procedure; the inscription of national sites in the List of World Heritage in Danger and their deletion from the World Heritage List without the consent of the territorial State). Having established the overall legal framework deriving from the 1972 Convention, the article then proceeds to discuss the practice of Unesco bodies with special respect to the ‘Venice and its Lagoon’ site. In particular, since 2014 the World Heritage Committee has urged Italy to adopt a ban on large ships in the Lagoon, even threatening to include Venice in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The article identifies both the positive aspects and the “shadows” characterizing the action of the Unesco bodies in subiecta materia. In its last part, the article discusses the various measures adopted (or planned) by the Italian authorities - from the 2012 “Clini-Passera” Ministerial Decree to the 2021 Decree-Law - in order to manage the issue. It concludes by arguing that, notwithstanding some hesitations and contradictions emerging from the conduct of both Italian authorities and Unesco bodies, the legal obligations stemming from the 1972 Convention, and the compliance procedures developed in its application practice, nowadays exert a major influence over the national policies of States concerning the management of World Heritage sites.