Council of State resolves decade-long EU-Italy beach concession dispute

6 months ago 29

A recent decision by the Italian Council of State ordering the country to urgently introduce genuine tendering procedures for beach concessions has brought to an end the contentious legal battle between the European Commission and Italy over its beach concession practices.

For over a decade, the European Commission has been locked in a legal tug-of-war with Italy over its beach concession practices. Despite EU directives requiring competitive tendering, Italy has persistently renewed beach concessions without open competition.

However, a recent ruling by the Council of State has put an end to this controversial issue.

According to Tuesday’s ruling by the Council of States, Italy must immediately launch a tendering procedure to award beach concessions, recognising that beaches are a “scarce” resource.

The ruling invalidates any renewal of concessions after 31 December 2023, including the government’s decision to extend them until 31 December this year.

Referring to principles established by the European Court of Justice, which previously condemned Italy’s automatic renewal of beach concessions, the ruling emphasises the need for genuine competition in the allocation of concessions.

The ruling also questions the government’s claim that beach resources are not scarce.

Last year, the Italian government submitted a mapping report to Brussels in an attempt to justify its failure to comply with the Bolkestein directive.

According to the data, only 33% of the coastline is currently under concession, suggesting there is no scarcity of beach resources and, thus, no need for competitive tendering to protect the principle of competition as required by the EU’s Bolkestein Directive.

However, critics point out that the mapping included 11,000 kilometres of coastline, including rocky shores and non-swimmable areas that would never be eligible for concession.

Following the ruling, sources from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia have stated that the results of the government’s coastline mapping are “currently under discussion between the government and the European Commission, to resolve the infringement procedure and define a regulatory framework for the entire sector that would provide certainty to operators and local administrations.”

The European Commission has long criticised Italy’s concession renewal system, arguing that it stifles competition and deprives the state of substantial revenues.

With concessions routinely extended for over a decade without price adjustments, private operators enjoy disproportionately low rents in highly lucrative tourist destinations.

(Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)