PESCARA. “Maritime beach concessions: certainty in uncertainties”, the title of a conference tells of the doubts of the Abruzzo beach owners. It was discussed in the Camplone room of the Pescara headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and saw the great participation, both in person and remotely, of lawyers, teachers, politicians, Maritime Directorate of Abruzzo, Molise and the Tremiti Islands CV Fabrizio Giovannone. The conference was chaired by Massimo Provinciali (Director General Emeritus of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport).
After greetings from Carlo Masci (mayor of Pescara), Riccardo Padovano (president of Confcommercio Pescara and president of Sib Abruzzo), Stefano Gallo (representing the Bar Association of Pescara) ed Emanuela Pistoia (director of the law department of the University of Teramo) the speakers’ interventions began.
Diego De Carolis (lawyer and professor of the Department of Law of the University of Teramo) after an excursus on the Bolkestein directive he argued the theme of “certainty within uncertainties” and reiterated his position underlining the validity of the extension of the concession titles until the deadline determined by the concession title.
Alexander Born (professor of the Department of Law at the University of Teramo) explained the impact of the European Union on the issue of beach concessions.
Tonino Capacchione (National Sib president): he explained that «the Navigation Code distinguishes two cases: the formal act and the licence. The formal deed determines the duration of the concession title in proportion to the amortization of the investment, while the license is an absolutely precarious concession. Why have many people chosen this precarious job? They made this choice by trusting in the institution of the right to insist. We have placed trust in the laws of the Italian State and in Italian administrative jurisprudence, which until sentence 168 also considered the reference to European law to be correct”.
“We have never asked,” he added, “for an automatic and generalized extension. Our documents from the last 15 years clearly demonstrate this. Even before the ruling, we knew that our legal principles were legitimate trust and corporate property. Now the protection of others is also added. It is not right that today those who believed in the State should suffer the consequences of a legislative vacuum. This is our passion, our vehemence and determination, because we believe we are right according to European law and Italian constitutional law.”
Therefore, the position of the Italian seaside resorts is “the request for a correct application of European law”.
«At Confcommercio», Riccardo Padovano intervenes, «we also represent beach establishments and hotels. In the province of Pescara, we have 145 concessions, 2,000 employees and a turnover of 100 million euros. The beating heart of our production activity are the concessions, which have become real businesses. We entrepreneurs, in fact, have made significant investments, even on an emotional level, trying to enhance spaces that are not our property. The objective of this conference is not to speak to the stomachs of stakeholders, but to their heads. It is important to train seaside entrepreneurs to create awareness and understand the right long-term political path, without misleading businesses.”
«It is therefore appropriate», he continued, «to redesign the coastline starting from the ANCI. In this regard, there will be an appointment in October with Henry of Giuseppantonio (Delegate to the Maritime State Property Anci Abruzzo) to discuss the transfer of maritime state property to the municipalities. A transfer of powers that is incomplete: only responsibilities have been transferred to the municipalities while the profits go to the State».
Massimo Provinciali, Director General Emeritus of the Ministry of Transport, after a summary of the rules governing maritime concessions, observed that today, on the one hand, there is a greater demand for free use of public property and environmental sustainability of beaches and on the other hand there is also the need to protect the history and activities of beach entrepreneurs.
Paolo Passoni (president of the TAR Abruzzo, Pescara section) with a speech regarding the 1940 Code, Europe and the Council of State, underlined “the importance of the Council of State and European norms”. He added that «in 2010 there was the possibility of resolving the problem with the EU but there was a lack of will to technically make the findings raised by opting for a passive response by the Ministry of Tourism».
Max Perin (Deputy President of the Court of Auditors, Jurisdictional Section of Emilia-Romagna) intervened arguing the aspects of administrative responsibility, reiterating the need to introduce useful measures to overcome the current stalemate.
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