Italy can’t allow beach clubs to keep control of the sandy shore until 2033, the European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday.
While Italy’s seafront is public property, large parts of beaches are dotted with umbrellas, sunbeds and restaurants managed by private beach businesses that strike concessions with local authorities. Italian lawmakers in 2020 allowed these contracts run until 2033.
The Court of Justice said that can’t happen. Beach concessions “cannot be renewed automatically” and must face “an impartial and transparent selection procedure,” judges said in a ruling that sets out EU law for an Italian court handling a dispute between the country’s competition authority and the town of Ginosa.
Beaches are a hot political issue in Italy, sparking clashes last year within the coalition government led by former Prime Minister Mario Draghi who had only wanted to extend the concessions until the end of 2023.
National courts and local authorities, the court said, must apply EU law and are required to “disapply conflicting national provisions.”
The Italian Competition and Markets Authority (AGCM) took the municipality of Ginosa to Puglia’s Regional Administrative Court to annul a decision to extend local contracts.
While the regional court did rule that the move was incompatible with EU Directive 2006/123 on services in the internal market, it called on the Court of Justice to verify the scope of the directive. That regional court must now make final decisions in the case.
The case is C-348/22 Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (Municipality of Ginosa).
Giorgio Leali contributed reporting.
