Expired beach concessions must be put out to tender. No extension, not even the one announced last September as the result of an agreement between the Italian State and the European Commission, which does not appear to have been formalized in a written act. This was reaffirmed in a ruling by the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Liguria, which rejected the appeal of three establishments in Zoagli against the municipality's resolution confirming the expiration of the concessions on December 31, 2023, and launching the tender procedures. The panel of administrative judges, headed by Tribunal President Giuseppe Caruso, pointed out that the State-owned maritime concessions for tourist-recreational activities, which have already been extended several times by law, permanently ceased at the end of 2023. New allocations must be made through selective, transparent and impartial procedures, in accordance with the Bolkestein directive. According to the TAR, therefore, neither the legislative extensions that had extended concessions until 2024 and then to 2027, nor the understanding with the European Commission announced by the government, have any value, because "there does not appear to exist a written document enclosing such a pact". Moreover, such an agreement could not in any case override decisions already made by the European Court of Justice.
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