The future of beach concessions in Italy

The original framework

Under the 1942 Navigation Code, beach areas are classified as part of the State Maritime Domain (“demanio marittimo”). Accordingly, such land is intrinsically public and inalienable and may be used by private parties on an exclusive basis only through public concessions. For decades, this framework favoured incumbent concessionaires who, invoking a de facto “right of insistence,” obtained automatic renewals of existing concessions. Indeed, over the years, the Italian State has enacted several extensions by law of the existing concessions, repeatedly postponing their respective expiration dates. Most recently, this occurred with the 2019 Budget Law (Law No. 145/2018), which provided for yet another extension until 2033.

The result was a closed market in which the same operators controlled the same stretches of coastline for generations, subject to limited oversight and minimal competitive pressure.

This model was fundamentally challenged by the introduction of EU Directive 2006/123/EC, widely known as the Bolkestein Directive, which established that public concessions involving scarce natural resources must be granted through transparent, non-discriminatory, and competitive bidding processes. 

The EU infringement procedure

In 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) opened an infringement procedure in relation to Italy's long-standing practice of repeatedly extending beach concessions without competitive tender procedures. By way of background, an EU infringement procedure is the formal enforcement mechanism through which the Commission addresses a Member State's failure to comply with EU law.

According to the Commission, the current system is incompatible with the Bolkestein Directive and the freedom of establishment guaranteed under Article 49 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In particular, under the EU framework, where the number of authorisations available for a given economic activity is limited due to the scarcity of natural resources, as is the case for stretches of beaches, rights relating to the economic exploitation of such public assets must be awarded through transparent, impartial and adequately publicised selection procedures and granted for limited durations, in order to foster competition and improve the quality and conditions of the services offered to users.

In an effort to align national rules with EU law while managing the relevant social and economic impacts, successive Italian governments have adopted a series of legislative measures. These have established that municipalities must reassign beach areas through public tender procedures and, pending such tenders, have extended the validity of existing concessions. Following the 2022 reforms - which initially set an expiration date at the end of 2024 - subsequent legislative initiatives have sought to postpone this deadline to September 2027.

The Commission has welcomed the direction of the Italian reform process, while refraining from formally closing the infringement procedure. Formal closure remains conditional upon the effective and timely implementation of the new competitive framework.

Recent developments in administrative case law

In recent years, a series of decisions by the administrative courts has addressed the complex transition from the traditional regime to one aligned with EU law. While not departing from the Adunanza Plenaria of the Council of State – which confirmed the incompatibility with EU law of indiscriminate legislative extensions – the administrative courts have scrutinized, on a case-by-case basis, the various solutions adopted by Italian municipalities to comply with European principles and to avoid leaving beach areas unassigned.

Whereas in the past the judiciary often adopted a relatively accommodating stance – seeking to reconcile the imperative of open competition with the operational necessity of maintaining the usability of coastal areas during the transitional phase – the more recent approach has become decidedly stricter, not least in view of the approaching deadline for the award of beach concessions.

A salient example is provided by T.A.R. Liguria, judgment No. 183/2025, which rejected challenges brought by operators holding tourist recreational maritime concessions that had been repeatedly extended ex lege. Consistent with prevailing administrative case law, the court held that Article 12, paragraph 6 sexies, of Decree Law No. 198/2022 (as converted by Law No. 14/2023), which postponed the expiration of concessions to 31 December 2024, must be disapplied for conflict with the Bolkestein Directive. The principle, according to the same line of reasoning, now also extends to Article 1, paragraph 1, letter a), No. 1.1), of Decree Law No. 131/2024 (as converted by Law No. 166/2024), which deferred the final term of concession duration to 30 September 2027.

T.A.R. Lazio has recently upheld Rome Capital's public notice of 14 February 2026, which initiated a one-year procedure for the award of 31 beach concessions in Ostia. With judgment No. 8860/2026, the court emphasized that the legislative extensions of existing concessions until 30 September 2027 (or, in certain conditions, until 31 March 2028) reflect the need for an adequate transitional period to implement the new concession regime. Within this context, a “bridge tender” designed to ensure service continuity and orderly planning of future procedures was deemed lawful.

The role of the Italian Competition Authority

Alongside the Italian administrative courts, the Italian Competition Authority (the “ICA”) has become a key actor in shaping how beach concessions are awarded in practice. Although the ICA does not grant concessions itself, it plays an important role in ensuring that tender procedures remain open, transparent and accessible to potential new entrants, including foreign operators.

The ICA has been actively monitoring municipalities across Italy, where approaches to beach-concession tenders remain fragmented and inconsistent, issuing opinions and bringing legal actions to promote a competition-oriented framework consistent with both Italian case law and EU law.

In broad terms, the ICA expects municipalities to stop relying on repeated postponements, which Italian administrative courts have consistently found to be unlawful and which effectively extend existing concessions without competition. Instead, local authorities are expected to adopt clear timelines for launching and completing tenders, while ensuring sufficient publicity so that non-local operators can participate on equal terms with incumbent concessionaires.

At the same time, the Authority has been particularly critical of participation requirements and award criteria that indirectly favour incumbent operators, such as those giving disproportionate weight to prior concession experience or to the bidder's historical economic dependence on the concession.

Between legal clarity and de facto uncertainty: Dealing with the risk of operational ambiguity

Despite the clear legal framework established by the administrative courts and the ICA, the burden of practical implementation falls entirely on municipalities. These local authorities are currently tasked with designing and managing unprecedented tender procedures in a total absence of standardized governmental guidelines or templates.

Operating within this regulatory vacuum, each municipality is forced to independently interpret and operationalize the core principles of transparency, non-discrimination, and proportionality. This complex task must be balanced with the need to ensure service continuity and public safety, often under the pressure of tight deadlines and intense institutional scrutiny.

For stakeholders already active in or looking to enter the Italian “blue economy”, the challenge has evolved from a purely administrative hurdle into a high-stakes strategic imperative. Judicial consensus indicates that many concessions may already be technically expired, irrespective of the expiration dates shown on official documents. This creates a critical “compliance gap,” requiring prospective investors to look beyond a superficial review of existing licenses.

As the sector transitions toward a competitive landscape, expert legal guidance becomes essential. It is no longer enough to follow general trends; success depends on developing tailor-made strategies centered on the specific actions of individual municipalities.

Authored by D. Gullo, M. Bocchio, L. R. Perfetti, and Marina Roma.