Long-running battle over lucrative beach concessions between Italy and EU could be in final chapter

Associated Press

ROME (AP) — The latest chapter in a seemingly endless saga over the management of Italy’s lucrative beach concessions has set Italian beaches on fire this summer. For almost two decades, the European Commission has been locked in a legal tug-of-war with Italy over its beach concession practices, accusing the peninsular nation of lacking transparency and breaching competition rules. Italian governments, from left to right, have staunchly resisted EU directives requiring competitive tendering, persistently renewing the existing beach concessions without open procedures. After the latest extension approved by the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni until the end of the year, Rome has now run out of options and will be forced to comply with EU rules from early 2025.