The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the granting of beach concessions falls within the scope of the Services Directive (2006/123), in a judgment handed down on Thursday 20 April (case C-348/22).
The European Commission welcomed this interpretation of EU law. “National authorities and courts must apply the Services Directive, including municipal authorities. This means that they must provide for impartial and transparent procedures for potential candidates. In addition, permits are granted for an appropriate limited period of time and are not subject to automatic renewal”, commented a spokeswoman, Sonya Gospodinova. “Furthermore, national courts and the administration of a Member State must leave unapplied national rules that contradict these obligations”, she added.
According to Gospodinova, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni assured European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton that Italy would bring its legislation into line with EU law “very quickly” during a meeting in Rome last week. A specific infringement procedure has been opened against Italy.
See the Court’s judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/6g3 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)