Italy, EU reach deal on beach concessions

ROME (AFP) — Italy and the European Union appeared Thursday to have settled a long-running stand-off over beach concessions, even if Brussels said it would not halt legal proceedings until the deal had been implemented.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet late Wednesday approved a new law to resolve a range of EU infringement procedures against Italy.

They included one launched in 2020 over Rome's failure to open up beach operators to competition.

"The cooperation between Rome and Brussels has made it possible to find a balance between the need to open the concessions market and the opportunity to protect the legitimate expectations of current concession holders," Meloni's office said in statement.

This had allowed both sides "to conclude a long-standing and complex issues of particular importance for our nation."

Private beach operators provide sun loungers and umbrellas, toilets and showers, restaurants and bars —services many Italians enjoy.

But they can be costly and squeeze out those who cannot or will not pay. And in some areas, such as Rimini on the Adriatic coast, private concessions swallow up 90% of beaches.

The EU has been warning Italy for two decades that it had to introduce more competition in the system, where concessions are renewed automatically and often passed down generations.

Successive Rome governments ignored the complaints, instead repeatedly extending the validity of the existing concessions — as Meloni did after taking office, to 2024.

Under the new plan, Italy will extend the rights of existing operators until September 2027, but require tenders to be opened by June that year at the latest.

The concessions will last between five and 20 years, giving new operators time to recoup their investments.

Lea Zuber, European Commission spokeswoman for competition issues, said Thursday that Meloni's government had taken "a major step in the right direction.

"We are hoping that the rules will be brought in conformity as soon as possible, and that we can close the infringement procedure as soon as possible. For now it remains open," she told reporters.

Critics of the current system say the state has allowed private interests to profit from a public resource belonging to everyone, while paying the state a pittance in exchange.

Some estimates show the state receiving 115 million euros ($126 million) a year for concessions from an industry worth 15 billion.

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By Agence France-Presse

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