ADMINISTRATIVE | Administrative Court on tacit consent mechanism within PAS for photovoltaic projects

On 7 May 2026, the Regional Administrative Court for Friuli-Venezia Giulia issued a judgment concerning an appeal against an adverse opinion rendered by the competent cultural heritage authority (Soprintendenza) in the context of a Simplified Authorisation Procedure (PAS) for the construction of a photovoltaic plant. The applicant argued that the opinion had been issued after the expiry of the applicable deadline and that, consequently, tacit consent had already been formed by operation of law. During the proceedings, the Soprintendenza revoked its opinion ex officio, while the Municipality confirmed both the successful completion of the PAS and the consolidation of the authorisation title.

The Court therefore declared that there was no longer any live dispute between the parties. It nevertheless held that the Soprintendenza’s self-remedial action amounted to an acknowledgment of the unlawfulness of the challenged opinion. From the perspective of administrative simplification, the judgment confirms that, within the PAS framework, opinions may also be formed by tacit consent where the competent authority fails to act within the prescribed time limits.

Newsletter n. 118 – May 2026