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

abcnews.go.com:

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

ROME — 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.

“We are in a phase of total uncertainty and we want our rights to be preserved,” said Susanna Barbadoro, who represents the third generation of owners of a beach concession in Ostia, a popular seaside destination near Rome.

Beach concessions have been passed down from one generation of a family to the next for decades, creating what critics consider to be a sort of monopoly and a symbol of Italy’s resistance to economic reforms.

Costs for beach-goers vary along the Italian coasts: They can go from 25 euros to rent two chaise lounges and an umbrella for the day in the most basic establishments, to several hundred euros in fancy resorts such as Capri or Puglia’s Salento.

The beach operators complain that they have made huge investments into making their establishments comfortable for their returning customers and now