The Italian Council of Ministers has approved the extension of beach concessions until 2027. This decision is included in the decree-law approved during the session held on September 4, which introduces urgent provisions to address certain infringement procedures affecting Italy, including the one concerning state-owned maritime, lake, and river concessions for tourism, recreational, and sports purposes (No. 2020/4118).
“The collaboration between Rome and Brussels,” reads a statement from Palazzo Chigi, “has allowed a balance to be struck between the need to open the concessions market and the opportunity to protect the legitimate expectations of current concession holders”.
FAITA and Federalberghi’s Concerns
FAITA-FederCamping and Federalberghi have expressed concerns regarding the extension of concessions. While the extension provides a useful time frame to find solutions, both associations emphasize that it does not fully address the existing issues.
Concessions are an integral part of the services offered by hotels, campsites, and holiday villages, which often combine accommodation with access to equipped beaches. Guests choose these establishments specifically for the integration of lodging and beach access, and removing these businesses’ concessions would result in significant harm. Unlike independent beach facilities, the loss of concessions for these structures cannot be compensated by assigning another area, especially if distant from the accommodation facility.
The two associations are urging Parliament to improve the decree by introducing specific measures to protect hospitality structures. They point to Greek legislation as an example, which has created special regulations to safeguard this type of activity while respecting EU law. FAITA-FederCamping and Federalberghi have announced that they will closely evaluate the details of the decree-law in the coming days, expecting more appropriate solutions.
Key points of the reform
In addition to extending the validity of current concessions until September 2027, the newly enacted beach concession reform imposes specific obligations: tenders must be initiated by June 2027; new concessions must last between 5 and 20 years to allow concessionaires to recover their investments; employees working under the previous concession, whose main source of income came from the activity, must be rehired; the outgoing concessionaire must be compensated by the incoming one, covering the value of depreciable and non-depreciated assets, as well as a fair return on investments made over the past five years. Among the evaluation criteria for bids, being a concession holder for the previous five years, providing a primary source of income for the family, will also be considered.
How the infringement procedure originated
The original national legislation allowed for the automatic renewal of beach concessions every 6 years, favoring the current concession holder over new potential entrants. However, with the introduction of the Services Directive 2006/123/EC, known as the “Bolkestein Directive,” the situation changed: issuing new concessions and renewing expired ones now requires transparent and impartial public procedures, allowing new operators to enter the market.
Despite this clear European regulation, Italy repeatedly extended concessions, enabling beach establishments to continue their activities. Most recently, beach concessions that expired in December 2023 were extended by one year (under the “2023 Milleproroghe” decree), once again violating the Bolkestein Directive. This led to the infringement procedure, which has now been addressed.
Photo by Stephanie Albert
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