Tourism Law in Europe

3 the most recent case law of the Constitutional Court, describing it in terms of “social freedom” 8 . According to article 117(4) of the Constitution, tourism is a matter of exclusive competence of the Regions. However, there are still some areas of relevance to tourism, for which article 117(3) provides a shared competence of the State and the Regions, i.e. in the field of tourism professions, health protection, sports regulations, territorial management, civil ports and airports, enhancement of cultural and environmental heritage, promotion, as well as organisation of cultural activities. Lastly, article 117(2) grants the State exclusive competence in certain matters that interfere with the tourism system, such as the protection of competition, the tax and accounting system, civil and private law, civil and social rights and the protection of the environment, the ecosystem and cultural assets. In this perspective, the “precarious balance” between national and regional laws is the most critical point in the current framework of tourism legislative and governance powers 9 . 2. The Ministry of Tourism and the Promotion of Italy’s Image Abroad The current structure of the public organisation of tourism is based on the distribution of competences between the Regions and the Italian State. This long-standing Italian tradition dates back to the first experiences of the Associazioni Pro-Loco (1881), followed by the Automobil Club d’Italia (ACI), the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) (1863) and the Touring Club Italiano (TCI) (1894). Accordingly, the National Agency for the Development of the Tourism Industry ( Ente Nazionale per l’incremento delle Industrie Turistiche – ENIT) was founded in 1919. Nowadays, ENIT is known as the National Agency for Tourism ( Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo ) and is responsible for promoting Italy’s image abroad. The Ministry of Tourism was first established in 1959, but following events led to considerable institutional challenges concerning the relational structure between the State and the Regions. Although tourism is a matter of regional competence, the Ministry of Tourism was recently re-established by Italian Decree-Law no. 22 of 1 March 2021, 8 Maurizio MALO & Cinzia COLALUCA, Il turismo nella Costituzione , in Vincenzo FANCESCHELLI, Francesco MORANDI, Manuale di diritto del turismo , op . cit ., p. 18. 9 Luca RIGHI, Il “precario equilibrio” del turismo nel nuovo assetto dei rapporti fra Stato e Regioni , in Diritto del turismo , 2003, p. 127.