Reforms, from “Italy on stage” to digital notification of new UNESCO nominations

After the victory over the 5% VAT for the trade of works of art in Italy, the Honorable Federico Mollicone , continues to make the Culture Commission, which he chairs, work. On the occasion of his speech at the reopening ceremony of the Museum of Saved Art in the Octagonal Hall of the Baths of Diocletian, he talks about the work on the Commission's table, including the proposed law "Italy on stage", which provides for a digital notification for market operators and new Unesco candidacies.

The bill “Italia in Scena” – of which Mollicone is the first signatory – aims to introduce, with articles 121-bis and 121-ter of the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, a digital register of institutions, places of culture and cultural assets of public ownership at the MiC. The register would have the task of cataloging information relating to the forms of management and compliance with the quality levels of the enhancement of cultural heritage, in order to collect and make accessible the related data, as well as monitor management, also evaluating the adoption of alternative forms and the participation of private entities, single or associated, in the activities of enhancement of the cultural heritage itself according to the principle of subsidiarity. In essence, the register should collect, from the various public institutions, data on the nature of the asset, on the management (direct or indirect), on the related legal acts and on quality indicators such as accessibility, effectiveness, efficiency and economic sustainability. Article 121-ter then establishes the Digital Register of Horizontal Subsidiarity, a section of the registry intended to register private entities interested in the indirect management of public cultural assets, ensuring transparency, competition and quality. The registration criteria and operating methods will be defined by ministerial decree, but registration always remains open. For the purposes of implementing the provisions, an expenditure of 5 million euros is authorized starting from the year 2025, by which the "Fund to meet urgent needs" or Fund referred to in Art. 1, paragraph 200, of Law 23 December 2014, no. 190, intended to cover unforeseen and urgent expenses to prevent significant damage or the blocking of essential services, from which so much had been 'scraped' in the Budget Law for the current year.

One of the main innovations of the “Italia in Scena” reform law, which will soon be discussed in the Chamber (and which is not yet included in the proposal), concerns the introduction of a “digital notification” for the transparency of the art market. “The digital notification,” announced the president of the Culture Commission, Federico Mollicone, during the presentation of the reopening of the Museum of Salvaged Art in the Octagonal Hall of the Baths of Diocletian, “is designed to offer institutions a useful tool for monitoring the official market, and at the same time to support archives and auction houses in ensuring legality and transparency throughout the system.” “With this rule – again according to the Honorable Mollicone – auction houses and private archives will have to send a simple PEC to notify works put up for auction and new attributions, especially those made by archives. It will be a “silent” notification, only for information, without any new bureaucratic or burdensome formalities: on the contrary, it will serve to protect those who operate in transparency, offering a direct information tool to the MiC and the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage”. Mollicone underlined that “forms of collaboration and informal notifications already exist, but this represents a step forward towards systematic digital monitoring, for the benefit of a transparent art market”. The measure is in addition to the recent introduction of a 5% VAT for art sales, carried out together with the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli , “which has made Italy the most convenient country to buy and sell art – added Mollicone – and we want it to also be possible to say 'in total transparency'”. Finally, Mollicone announced that the Carabinieri TPC Nucleus will be summoned for a hearing as part of the fact-finding investigation into “digitalization and use of artificial intelligence,” launched at the beginning of the legislature.

On 25 June 2025, the VII Committee on Culture of the Chamber approved the resolution, signed by the Honorable Federico Mollicone (Brothers of Italy), which commits the Government to actively support the candidacies of the “Etruscan Sites” and the “Via Francigena” for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List, established by the 1972 UNESCO Convention. An awaited recognition, both for the valorization of the Etruscan civilization – unanimously considered the most significant of pre-Roman Italy – and for the ancient medieval route that connects Europe to Rome and that winds for about 1,200 km through seven Italian regions, dotted with places of worship, defensive structures, settlements and medieval infrastructures. On June 17, the Culture Commission held a hearing dedicated to the UNESCO candidacies for the Via Francigena and the Etruscan sites, listening to, among others, Ledo Prato (Mecenate 90), Jacopo Caucci von Saucken (University of Florence), Sara Tognini (Ass. Leonardo), Luca Bruschi (AEVF) and Eugenio Giani , president of the Tuscany Region. Subsequently, on June 19, the memorandum of understanding was signed in Perugia between the municipalities participating in the joint candidacy project of the “Spur – Etruscan cities” for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The document formally gives the go-ahead for the drafting of the candidacy dossier and follows an initial agreement in 2017 between Perugia and Orvieto, now joined by Arezzo, Formello (Rome), Piombino, Marzabotto, Tarquinia and Volterra.

The operational program will be divided into four phases, from the establishment of the working group to the drafting of the management plan, up to the final delivery of the dossier in French or English to the competent bodies. The scientific direction is entrusted to Professor Mario Torelli , supported by Paola Falini for the coordination of the group. The ambition is high: to have the exceptionality of the Etruscan urban model recognized, the “Spur”, cities that summarize three fundamental elements – fortification, religiosity and engineering – which represent, according to Torelli, “an indestructible urban ideology”, of which the participating cities are living witnesses. Perugia stands out for its city walls, Orvieto for the Fanum Voltumnae, Marzabotto for its regular plan, Populonia for its productive character, Veio for its cults, Gravisca for the port, Volterra for the acropolis, Arezzo-Castelsecco for the suburban temple-theater complex.