Tourism Law in Europe

7 disjointed, with “an effect that would be harmful in itself and certainly not consistent with the aim of protecting (...) consumers” 23 . Moreover, in this context, the rationale of Article 3, second paragraph, of Law no. 97 of 2013, according to which guides from another EU countries are allowed to practice in Italy under the freedom to provide services, without the need for further general or specific measures, appeared unclear, thus worsening the position of Italian colleagues. Faithful to a system of public control, the legislator has not succeeded in regulating access to this profession in a way that is consistent with Community requirements 24 , and has not fulfilled its initial intention of putting national guides on an equal footing with European guides operating in Italy, with a return for the former to the need for a regional qualification in addition to the national one. Perhaps if the legislator had referred the matter to free competition 25 , it would have made the picture less complex and more consistent 26 , and consumers’ expectations would have been unaffected. The case may not seem of great interest outside our borders, but it is exemplary of the current evolution of Italian tourism law, with a tradition oriented towards public intervention and strict regulation of the market and with an intense and sometimes conflicting dialogue with the European system, which is instead inclined towards liberalisation, notwithstanding the frequent differences of opinion between the European Union, the State and the regions, to the detriment of simplicity. 3. The Seaside Maritime State Property and a Difficult Conciliation with the Community Legislation A further area of conflict between Italian and Community law on tourism is the issue of State concessions at sea. According to a constant guideline 27 , the criteria and procedures 23 See Cons. Stato, sez. VI, 13 April 2017, no. 3859, cit. 24 See Court of Justice of 26 February 1991 in Case C-180/89 European Communities v. Italian Republic, cited above. Italian Republic , cited above. 25 See Della Cananea, I problemi delle organizzazioni professionali e il loro futuro , in Aa.Vv., Per un riordino delle professioni , edited by Della Cananea - Tenella Sillani, Naples, 2002, 11 et seq .; S. Cassese, La riforma degli ordini professionali , in Giorn. dir. amm., 2001, 645 et seq . 26 See Ricciardi, Professioni giuridiche, in Dig., disc. priv., sec. civ. vol. XV, 343 et seq . 27 See Constitutional Court 4 July 2013, no. 171, in Consulta on line, 2013; Constitutional Court 7 June 2018, no. 118, ibid., 2018 ; Constitutional Court 7 July 2017, no. 157, ibid., 2017; Constitutional Court 24 February 2017, no. 40, ibid., 2017; Constitutional Court 29 January 2021, no. 10, ibid., 2021.