On the application of the Services Directive to concessions of state-owned maritime property in Italy 

The petitioner expresses concern that Directive 2006/123/EC is being circumvented in Italy, arguing that individual business concessions (beach establishments) on state-owned property situated along the coast and used for tourism and leisure purposes must not be allowed to detract from public access to beaches. She refers in this connection to the judgment of the European Court of Justice of July 2016 concerning concessions of state-owned maritime property in Italy, stressing the importance of public tendering procedures for the allocation of beach concessions, which should not be automatically renewed. Furthermore, the individual interests of concession holders must not be allowed to prevail over environmental and landscape protection and the unrestricted right of public access to the beaches.