«Only just over 1100 beach establishments on the 800 km of Calabrian coast. It can easily be deduced that in ours region is not registered that shortage from the beach resource which would motivate the prohibition on automatic renewal and thecompulsory nature of the race for each concession imposed by Bolkestein directive». This is what the president of Assobalneari, from Reggio, underlines Giuseppe Nucera, these days busy with other entrepreneurs in the sector in continuous meetings. We are preparing for demonstration scheduled at Grand Hotel by Lamezia in the afternoon of Thursday 9 May at 4pm. «In our region, beach occupancy is not even uniform. The peaks are recorded on the Ionian and Tyrrhenian coasts of Cosenza and on the Tyrrhenian coasts of Vibo, where the receptive capacity is certainly higher. Reggio Emilia is further back, where there are very few accommodation facilities. On the Ionian coast from Bianco to Monasterace and the Tyrrhenian coast from Palmi down to the Strait. Some bathing establishments are concentrated here”, underlines the president Giuseppe Nucera.
The sentence and the mobilization
Seaside entrepreneurs in turmoil after the seal that the Council of State has placed on the expiry of seaside concessions on 31 December 2023. A ruling which effectively obliges the Administrations to announce tenders for concessions as early as next summer, disapplying Law 118 of 2022 (and consequently all the acts deriving from it adopted by local authorities including the Municipality of Reggio Calabria) by virtue of which a new extension of the concessions until 31 December 2024 was carried out. An extension granted pending the ongoing dialogue with the European Commission which has long placed Italian seaside concessions under its magnifying glass. An infringement proceeding formalized the need for our country to adapt to Brussels’ indications.
Government mapping and Sid data
The Government has sent a mapping of Italian beaches to Brussels which shows that 67% of the beach is free and only 33% occupied. A figure, that of the Government, which in any case would eliminate the requirement set out in the Bolkestein directive of the scarcity of the resource to impose the obligation to tender for the concession and prohibit automatic renewals. However, it is a fact that requires consideration. The Government’s mapping also includes rocky areas, areas that are not immediately accessible and not immediately usable (also due to the absence of services). Therefore, potential tourist areas on which to intervene to redevelop and establish an establishment are also included. So one much wider section of coast than the sandy one and the one that is actually occupied and employable translated, by the information system of the Ministry’s maritime state property, into the data considered by the Administrative Justice to evaluate “the resource is scarce”.
«The beach resource in Calabria is not scarce»
The observation space proposed by the Government is much wider, because it is potential, and would not expose Italy to this obligation of tenders. At least not in all stretches of the country’s coast. This is a point on which they intend to leverage seaside entrepreneurs That they ask immediately «a Government intervention to save the upcoming season. We do not yet see – underlines Giuseppe Nucera – concreteness regarding this provision which is instead urgent. Then a law will have to follow which, taking this data into account, protects the specificities of each region. Calabria does not record the same exploitation of the resource practiced in other regions such as Liguria for example. We ask that we be allowed to work. Here the beach resource in Calabria is not scarce. There are no percentages of factories in Rapallo or Portofino nor those business volumes. This is just one of the themes we bring, with others like that, in fact, dethe turnover compared to the fee to be paid, to the attention of the legislator at all levels. Policies must take into account the specific conditions of the territories, municipalities and regions». This is what Giuseppe Nucera, president of Assobalneari, which brings together the seaside businesses adhering to the system at a national level, reiterates Federturismo Confindustria.
The Bolkestein Directive
The Bolkestein Directive (2006/123/EC) aims to promote equality for professionals and businesses in access to European Union markets. It also applies to beach establishments. In summary, it provides that beach occupation concessions cannot be subject to automatic renewal. To ensure the free market, they must not be automatically renewed but must be subject to an impartial and transparent selection procedure. In the recent ruling, the administrative judge also referred “to the principles of the EU Court of Justice”, highlighting that the beach resource “is scarce” and therefore only tenders can guarantee a truly competitive context. It must be concluded that if the resource were not scarce, this obligation would not be binding and with it neither would the prohibition on automatic renewal. We intend to focus on this element, especially in Calabria, to safeguard the activity of seaside entrepreneurs. In the meantime, it is a priority to mobilize to save the summer season that is now upon us.
