Regional law n. 11/2026
Maybe this incipit It may seem out of place for a site intended for technical professionals but, in the writer’s opinion, it is essential to understand the scope of the regional law of Friuli-Venezia Giulia 16 October 2026, n. 11, bearing precisely the “Reform of the territorial government”, published in the Ordinary Supplement no. 30 of 19 October 2026 to the Official Bulletin no. 41 of 14 October 2026 (the text of which can be downloaded at the end of this contribution).
The law, which came into force on 20 October 2026, is made up of 56 articles, divided into five titles which are in turn divided into chapters.
Title I – Object, purpose and principles for the governance of the territory (articles 1-11)
Chapter I (and only) bears the “General Provisions” of regional law no. 11/2026. The strategic objectives of the law include the priority of reuse, with a prevalence of the recovery and valorisation of the existing building heritage over new buildings; the containment of land consumption, through the rigid limitation of the transformation of new agricultural or natural surfaces; urban and territorial regeneration through the activation of coordinated interventions to counteract urban, social and environmental degradation, guaranteeing the return of public spaces to the community.
Of particular importance, then, is the art. 3, which contains a series of definitions (and acronyms) essential for understanding the law. It goes from “Territorial government plan (PGT): regional instrument that defines the structural and strategic structure of the entire regional territory by coordinating land use, environmental protection and sustainable development of the territory” to “Regional landscape plan (PPR): regional instrument, subject of state landscape copy-planning, which integrates the protection and enhancement of the landscape in the processes of territorial transformation”, to finally arrive at “Municipal master plan (PRC): urban planning instrument of the Municipality which establishes the rules for the conservation, valorisation, organization and transformation of the municipal territory in compliance with the structural and strategic component, the objectives and directions of the PGT”.
Title II – Forms of territorial government (articles 12-40)
Chapter I (articles 12-18) contains the “Provisions for the government of the territory“; Chapter II (articles 19-24) regulates the “Regional planning“; Chapter III (articles 25-27) regulates the “Intermediate planning“; Chapter IV (articles 28-38) regulates the “Municipal planning“; Chapter V (articles 39-40), finally, bears the “Coordination between planning tools”.
First of all, the urban planning tools are outlined, appropriately divided into:
- supra-municipal level, entrusted to the Region which exclusively maintains the regional territorial planning function and the management of the intermediate level of a vast area.
The articles 22-24, in particular, regulate the formation of the PGT and the procedures for varying and updating the PGT;
- local level, attributed to the Municipalities, with the obligation to review and adapt municipal planning tools on the basis of new sustainability-oriented criteria.
In this context, therefore, the following are of importance: art. 28 dedicated to the object of the PRC, the articles. 29, 31, 32, 33 dedicated respectively to the formation of the PRC, variants, safeguarding and temporary uses. Furthermore, we point out the art. 34 dedicated to municipal implementation plans (CAP), in turn divided into public initiative PAC (art. 35) and private initiative PAC (art. 36).
Secondly, as highlighted in the regional website dedicated to the one-stop shop for production and construction activities, “one of the most relevant aspects of the new law concerns the municipal planning system, which is being profoundly rethought to make it simpler, more coordinated and oriented towards urban regeneration. Among the most significant innovations:
- implementation of the Territorial Government Plan (PGT) as a reference for regional planning, definitively overcoming the system based on the PURG” – general regional urban plan, ed. – “from 1978;
- simplification of relations between the Region and the Municipalities, with clearer procedures for the formation and adaptation of municipal planning tools:
- introduction of copy-planning processes between the Region and local authorities, even on a supra-municipal scale;
- progressive overcoming of the traditional logic of rigid zoning, in favor of an approach based on functional areas and on the ability of territories to adapt to economic and social transformations
- strong attention to urban regeneration, the recovery of existing building stock, the reduction of land consumption and adaptation to climate change”.
Title III – Urban planning implementation systems (articles 41-46)
Chapter I (articles 41-44) dictates the rules regarding “Equalization and cities public“; Chapter II (articles 45-46) regulates the “Monitoring of local government activities”.
The tools through which urban planning is implemented, regulated precisely in Title III of the law, are represented by urban compensation, with the obligation to apply compensatory measures (such as the renaturalization of already waterproofed areas) in the face of new and motivated land transformations (art. 45).
In this context, the regulation of building rights is noteworthy, through which urban planning compensations are implemented, giving priority to areas of urban regeneration to promote processes of increasing urban and environmental quality and urban planning facilities.
Finally, private real estate development interventions must ensure a parallel and proportionate benefit in terms of urban and environmental quality for the community (art. 43).
Title IV – Regulatory power (art. 47)
Chapter I (and only) provides for the issuance of a regulation implementing the law by 17 February 2027. Art. 47 of regional law n. 11/2026 entrusts the regulation with the task of regulating:
- the methods of implementation of the land consumption balance, the public works referred to in article 5, paragraph 4, as well as the methods with which the territorial governance instruments measure compliance with the principle of urban planning sustainability pursuant to art. 3, paragraph 1, letter. f);
- the minimum contents of the PTI (Intra-regional Territorial Plan), the modifications that do not constitute a variation to the PTI, the service conference procedure referred to in the articles. 14 et seq., law n. 241/1990 subsequent. mod., as well as the forms of coordination with the Strategic Environmental Assessment – SEA procedure;
- the copy planning of the intermediate level and the planning agreements referred to in the art. 27;
- the minimum contents of the PRC, the procedure, the subjects and the timing of the planning table;
- the minimum requirements and contents of the PAC and the OP (Operational Plan pursuant to art. 46);
- the urban and territorial facilities and their quantification methods, as well as the territorial projects referred to in Article 4, paragraph 5, regulated in the program agreement referred to in Article 44;
- the forms and methods of implementation of the institutions of territorial and urban equalization and compensation.
Title V – Transitional and final provisions (articles 48-56)
Chapter I (articles 48-52) contains the “Transitional provisions“; Chapter II (art. 53-56) contains the “Financial provisions, repeals and consequent regulatory adjustments and entry into force”.
As anticipated at the beginning of the contribution, the law came into force on 20 October 2026 but the effectiveness of most of the new provisions is deferred until the adoption and entry into force of the variations to municipal and regional planning. The only exception is represented by the articles. 48, 49 and 50, which contain the transitional provisions applicable to manage the transition phase from the old to the new regulations.
In summary, the urban planning tools and variants adopted before the entry into force of the variant to the PGT continue to be governed by the previous regional law of 23 February 2007, n. 5, as well as the procedures for which the directives have already been approved on the date of entry into force of the new law (art. 48). In this period, the variations to the municipal instruments in force are regulated by the articles. 49 and 50 which identify the changes allowed in the transitional phase and the simplified procedures for the conformity of the urban planning instruments to the PPR.
Conclusion
Given the impossibility of analytically accounting for all the provisions of regional law no. 11/2026, therefore, we can only wish the users of the site a happy reading.
Finally, just one clarification: the Regional Building Code approved with LR 11 November 2009, n. remains in force in its entirety. 19, subject to numerous amendments over time, including the implementation of the “Save Home” law through LR 4 July 2025, n. 9.
