Maritime state concessions: the definitive end to automatic extensions

Administrative case law, following the rulings of the European Court of Justice and the Plenary Session of the Council of State Nos. 17 and 18 of 2021, has now established a clear position: the system of automatic extensions for beach concessions is incompatible with the European principles of competition, transparency, and freedom of establishment.

The role of public administrations: practical applications and operative challenges

Despite the gradual clarification of these principles, the practical application of the regulations continues to pose challenges. A case in point is the situation along the Roman coast, where the Council of State recognized the primacy of the public interest in service continuity, allowing new concessionaires selected through a competitive bidding process to take over - even while litigation was pending - due to the imminent beach season.

Conversely, in the case of the Municipality of Grosseto, the Regional Administrative Court of Tuscany annulled a technical extension of the concessions, noting that the difficulties faced by local authorities in reconciling administrative continuity with compliance with EU obligations do not justify a violation of EU law.

Similar issues arise in the management of procedures in Lignano, where the immediate implementation of the new assignments has had significant effects on local businesses, highlighting the delicate balance between opening to competition and protecting the local economic fabric.

A key distinction, useful to the public administration in assessing the legitimacy of existing concessions, concerns the difference between extensions granted ex lege - applying national regulations - and the renewal of concessions following public administrative procedures.

Lazio Regional Administrative Court, in its ruling No. 6721 of April 14, 2026, recognized the legitimacy of a procedure for awarding a maritime state concession, based on the model outlined in Article 18 of the implementing regulation of the Navigation Code, since it had ensured adequate publicity of the procedure and the opportunity for economic operators in the sector to submit comments or competing bids. This would allow for a procedure open to the market even in the absence of a formally structured tender.

A review of the case reveals, in fact, that the municipal administration had structured the procedure in several phases, including the publication of the resolution approving a public notice and the relevant forms, the publication of notices regarding received renewal applications, the approval of standard templates for the new concessions, and the issuance of the titles in the absence of comments or competing bids.

In particular, Lazio Regional Administrative Court recognized that the level of publicity ensured by the publication of the procedural documents on the online municipal notice board and in the “Transparent Administration” section of the Fiumicino Municipality website had ensured wide and general circulation of the information and compliance with the principles established by European legislation. The ruling thus clarifies an important operational principle: the legitimacy of the concession derives from a case-by-case assessment of the procedure that led to the issuance of the title.

Future developments and conclusions

The overall picture remains characterized by significant uncertainty, fueled in part by the cautious approach of administrative case law, which in some cases has avoided ruling on the merits of the most controversial issues, awaiting further developments. At the same time, the legislature’s attempts to introduce new extensions - even if motivated by emergency needs - clash with the limits imposed by European law and with constraints of financial sustainability.

In conclusion, the system of maritime state concessions remains an evolving field.