The EU ruling confirms the centre-right line: Bolkestein applies only if the State certifies scarcity of the good (beaches)
Given that we are still in a global climate and that soccer is played on the beaches: one-nil for the beach club and the ball in the centre. There European Court of Justice has established that they are right, and in particular Assobalneari than on the frontier of the non-applicability of the Bolkestein has never given in, to say that the competition directive only applies if there is one proven scarcity of the resource (it is article 12) and that the shortage must be ascertained with a mapping at national level.
The head of the competition directorate in Brussels is therefore wrong in the first instance Salvatore D’Acuntowho never wanted to receive the business associations and rejected every document, the environmentalist movement is wrong when it describes the beach managers as if they were usurpers of the public good, mayors like Matteo Fiorini who evicted the lifeguards, the Democratic Party and its followers are wrong and they are wrong too Sergio Mattarella which is supported by a misinterpretation that the Council of State he rebuked Bolkestein twice Giorgia Meloni saying: that’s enough, on the shores listen to Ursula von der Leyen which, moreover, at this point without reason, sanctioned Italy.
The Luxembourg verdict overturns the accusations against the beach managers
Yesterday came the denial of the rhetoric of the enemies of the beach managers based on two false data: that the beach resorts are saprophytes of the State because they pay little for the concessions; that they are usurpers because they prevent access to the sea. The first statement does not take into account that i fees are set by the State and that companies still pay theVATincome taxes and then the Tari and theImu over the entire surface of the concession and throughout the year; the second is false because the beach resorts take charge of the safetydel maintenance of the environment and of care of the beaches.
Having said all this European Court of Justice has established a mandatory principle: the Bolkestein applies only in presence of resource scarcity. It all started from an appeal that «Rimini seaside resorts» proposed against the Municipality of Rimini.
Coastal mapping and time limits: the key points of the decision
The sentence takes three steps forward and says: la mapping arranged by the Italian government according to which on 7,458 kilometers of coast there are 4,970 bathing areas and “only 2,000 are covered by concessions” demonstrates that there is no shortage; «the evaluation of the condition relating to scarcity is up to thecompetent national authorityunder the control of a national judge» and finally that the concessions issued before 2009date of entry into force of Bolkestein, even if extended several times are not subject to the same directive.
From what is known the legislative office of the Ministry of Infrastructure led by Matteo Salvini is already working on making one law that implements the sentence.
From mapping to the reform of article 49 of the navigation code
Satisfaction was expressed by all the associations, in particular by Assobalneari (joins Confindustria Turismo) given that the president Fabrizio Licordari has always been at the forefront to support that scarcity of the resource was the only possible justification for the application of the Bolkestein. Note about this Licordaries: «There is no automatic identification between state concessions and public tendersbut the reaffirmation of a principle that Assobalneari Italy has always placed itself at the center of its action: first it is verified whether the resource is actually scarce, only then, if necessary, is the discipline of comparative procedures. On the contrary, the ruling denies those interpretations which had progressively reduced the issue of scarcity to a marginal element, accepting as inevitable a generalized competition system and moving the debate away from the real content of the European directive. Now it is up to the government to hire one clear political initiative that definitively brings this matter back onto the correct legal path, overcoming interpretations that have contributed to fueling it uncertainty and litigation. The Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni today has the opportunity to complete the path already started with the far-sighted choice to arrange, through a specific law, the mapping of the Italian coasts».
And now we have to get our hands onarticle 49 of the navigation code which in fact establishes theexpropriation of all assets built by the concessionaire once the concession expires. After the Luxembourg ruling there is no doubt that the chaos on the auctions (and the much speculation that has taken place regarding the renewal of concessions) will be able to find a solution with one definitive law.
