Rome – The national assembly of ANEA, the National Association of Area Authorities, which brings together 84 water and waste management agencies, today unanimously elected Luca Mascolo as its new president.
The Campanian manager and public administrator, president of the Campania Water Authority since 2017, succeeds Leonardo Raito and will be supported by Vice President Paolo Galgani. His term covers the four-year period from 2026 to 2030.
A career built on water and land
Born in Agerola in 1961, Mascolo is a professor and public administrator with over thirty years of institutional experience. He served as mayor of Agerola from 2011 to 2021 and currently also serves as deputy mayor of the municipality of the Monti Lattari Park.
As head of the Campania Water Authority, Mascolo managed over one billion euros in European and national funds to strengthen regional water services. Among the most significant projects of his tenure was coordinating the environmental remediation of the Sarno River, an intervention that allowed the Vesuvian coast to be restored to swimming condition after decades of pollution.
The program: governance, rules and skills
In his inaugural speech, Mascolo clearly outlined the paradigm that will guide the four-year term: strengthening the governance of environmental services, completing the sector's regulatory framework, and investing in the technical and administrative skills of the institutions.
"For too long, a sector that manages billions in strategic investments for the country has operated within incomplete or ambiguous institutional frameworks," declared the new president. "If we want to guarantee efficient, sustainable, and high-quality services, we must strengthen the level of governance where regulation translates into planning, investment, and concrete results."
Among the priorities identified: full recognition of the regional governing bodies (EGATO) as a strategic hub between the state, national regulation, and local areas; strengthening the second level of regulation, the local level; and strengthening the ANEA Academy through collaborations with the academic world. "Clear governance, solid expertise, transparent communication, and a cohesive institutional community are essential for ensuring modern and sustainable environmental services," he concluded.
The handover with Raito
Outgoing President Leonardo Raito, who led ANEA for the last two years, gave a positive assessment of his term. Among the achievements, Raito cited the association's recognition as a legal entity, the promotion of circular economy models, the creation of the ANEA Academy, and the launch of a process toward a unified text on water and waste, with a central role for EGATO.
"The new management will continue to strengthen this path," Raito assured in closing, emphasizing that the primary goal of his mandate has been to consolidate ANEA's institutional weight within the Italian public services landscape. Mascolo, for his part, recalled the association's original vision: "Twenty-two years ago, ANEA was born from the belief that environmental public services could not be governed without a strong, competent, and responsible level of governance. That belief has now become operational reality."
The ANEA assembly elected Luca Mascolo as president, a manager with experience at the EnteIdricoCampano; the 2026-2030 mandate seems to be a continuation of the agreement, but the regulatory details remain unclear. It is hoped that the responsibilities will be strengthened and that the EGAT0 and the territories will receive more concrete support.