Tourism Law in Europe

9 In declaring the illegitimacy of Article 2(2) of Liguria Regional Law No. 26 of 2017, the Constitutional Court stressed 34 that the protection of the concession must take place while respecting competition; failure to use selection procedures would result in an obstacle to the entry of new operators. Given the proximity to France, having postponed the effects of the previous concessions for thirty years caused damage not only to the excluded Italian companies but, above all, to the transalpine ones. Similarly, the administrative judge 35 annulled the measures by which the effects of State maritime concessions with tourist-recreational purposes were extended; in default, a real cross-border interest is prejudiced, since the measure concerned beaches which, due to their location and attractiveness, may be particularly attractive to companies based in another Community State. In fact, there are no “elements of specificity such as to concentrate the interest in obtaining such concessions on undertakings in a given territorial area” 36 . In line with this approach, the judge did not annul an act 37 by which a municipality rejected the application for the granting of a concession, with the simultaneous application for a permit to build mobile structures, because a public procedure had not been opened. The judge pointed out that the failure to use open, public and transparent procedures among the operators concerned leads to an obstacle to the entry of new entities into the market. The issue is becoming central to the current evolution of tourism law, because it touches on huge economic interests, given the importance of establishments in a Mediterranean country like ours, and highlights resistance to full liberalisation, with public intervention often aimed at protecting existing operators and the consequent protection of strong patrimonial needs. In addition to a contrast between national and regional law and, a fortiori, between Italian and European law, the case highlights the partial promotion of concessions in tourism and resistance to intensifying competition, despite Community 34 See Court of Justice, sez. V, 14 July 2016, joined cases C - no. 459 of 2014 and C - no. 67 of 2015, Promoimpresa Srl v. Consorzio dei comuni della sponda bresciana del lago di Garda e del lago di Idro and Melis and others v. Comune di Loiri Porto San Paolo and Provincia di Olbia Tempio ; Corte costituzionale 7 June 2018, no. 118, cit.; Corte costituzionale 7 July 2017, no. 157, cit. ; Corte costituzionale 24 February 2017, no. 40, cit. 35 See Tar Toscana, section II, 8 March 2021, no. 935. 36 See Tar Toscana, section II, 8 March 2021, no. 935. 37 See Cons. Stato, sez. IV, 16 February 2021, no. 2398.