On Thursday 5 September, the European Commission welcomed the Italian government’s decision to amend the rules governing the granting of seaside concessions in Italy, in order to introduce more competition.
According to the Italian press, the Italian municipalities concerned will have to issue new invitations to tender, by June 2027 at the latest, for the granting of new seaside concessions lasting between five and 20 years to enable the amortisation of the investments made. If a concession is awarded to a new operator, the outgoing operator will be entitled to financial compensation for the amount of its investment that has not yet been amortised at the time of the change of operator. The criteria for awarding a concession will take into account the situation in previous years and the nature of the outgoing operators.
Referring to “constructive” discussions with the Italian authorities, the Commission welcomed a “comprehensive, open and non-discriminatory solution covering all seaside concessions, to be implemented within the coming 3 years”. However, the Commission has not taken any decision on the specific infringement proceedings against Italy, as it is waiting to see the implementation of the future Italian decree, which should be adopted by March 2025.
“Collaboration between Rome and Brussels has made it possible to strike a balance between the need to open up the market in seaside concessions and the desirability of protecting the legitimate expectations of existing Italian concession holders”, said Italy’s Minister for European Affairs and candidate for the post of European Commissioner, Raffaele Fitto, on X. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)