Shipping & Transport Bulletin
June – July 2018
In the last two months, the Regional Administrative Court of Piedmont has repeatedly expressed its view regarding the scope of the regulatory competence of the Italian Transport Regulation Authority and the obligation to pay a fee for its functioning. We would like to shed light on the Court’s ruling, also taking into account that the press releases on the topic do not seem to have fully gotten the point.
The European Commission found an infringement of Article 107 TFEU in the tax exemption granted to the Italian Port System Authorities, deeming such exemption a State aid. Let’s see why.
In port areas, it is quite often unclear who can (legitimately) do what. This is particularly true as regards to port operations. The Italian Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport in a recent circular, shed light, once and for all, on which “category” of concessionaires is entitled to carry out port operations.
We commence the analysis of Regulation (EU) 2017/352 “establishing a framework for the provision of port services and common rules on the financial transparency of ports”. First of all, let’s see the “whereas” clauses to the Regulation, which clarify the underlying reasons why the European legislator found it appropriate to create this first comprehensive regulatory instrument.
We, then, examine the first parameter for evaluating concession applications – provided by the circular of the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic of 5 February 2018 – that the Port System Authorities are required to take into account when comparing such applications.
In the last issue of our newsletter, we emphasized the importance of adopting an organizational model in accordance with Legislative Decree 231/2001 to prevent serious liability being incurred – by both employers and businesses – in respect of health and workplace safety. Similar instruments can also be adopted to prevent any risk associated with infringement of environmental laws.
We want to thank our colleagues at Nctm Brussels’s office for their contributions highlighting the most significant actions taken by EU institutions in the international shipping and trade sector.
You will also find a list of our events taking place at our Milan and Rome offices, in addition to the usual update on our firm’s activities over the past two months.
