The Criminal Code is sufficient for lorries blocking roads

Today, the Council of Ministers – convened yesterday evening by Giorgia Meloni – is expected to approve a decree-law providing new aid for the road haulage and agricultural sectors. On Tuesday in Milan, Matteo Salvini, the Minister for Transport, reached an agreement with the trade associations, and yesterday he announced the allocation of over one billion euros. Yet the blockades protesting against high diesel prices have continued in Campania, Puglia and Calabria, where lorry drivers vow to remain on the roads until 27 October. Only in Sicily have the majority of them suspended their strike. In Naples yesterday, petrol stations ran out of fuel, and the airports in Crotone and Reggio Calabria were left without fuel. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry has identified 1,339 people, pressed charges against 71 of them and escorted 500 lorries in Campania. In the Chamber of Deputies, Francesco Lollobrigida, the Minister for Agriculture, suggested checking the criminal records of the protest leaders. He implied, not very subtly, that there are criminals involved and perhaps even a mafia element to the protests. We shall see. But inevitably, as always happens in Italy, this protest too is becoming an opportunity and a tool for the election campaign. So last night, Giuseppe Conte, leader of the M5S, received a delegation of lorry drivers from Campania. In short, everyone is playing the part they do best: the government allocates funds and issues threats, whilst the opposition pricks up its ears to the voice of the streets (criminal or not), much as it is doing with the looting in Milan (“we must listen to the young people”).

The issue, however, is simpler than that. The lorry drivers’ demands are to be discussed at the negotiating table, and the government has set that table. Roadblocks, on the other hand, are not up for discussion. They are a criminal offence, and have been since 2018, when it was Salvini himself, then Minister of the Interior, who reintroduced roadblocks into the Criminal Code. To put an end to them, there is no need to delve into anyone’s criminal record or to uncover criminal infiltration within the protests. All that is required is to enforce the law.