Strasbourg rejects relative the Italian norm to the costs minimums of the road haulage



The Law court of the European Union has established that, previewing that the price of the transport of goods on the road cannot be inferior to the costs minimums of exercise, the Italian norm violates the right of the EU. The today's sentence follows the demand turned to the judicial authority for the European Union from the Regional administrative court for the Latium which the Italian Oil Company (BEES) had asked the cancellation for the actions of the Observatory on the having concerned activities of road haulage the costs minimums. The Italian judge has asked the Law court EU if the Italian norm is compatible with the principles of free competition, of free circulation of the enterprises, freedom of plant and free performance of the services.

The pronunciamento of the Law court of the European Union establishes that the application of the similar minimal price can shrink the competition in the home market. "Relative the Italian norm to the transport of goods on the road - it has remembered the Court - previews that the fee which had from the outsourcer cannot be inferior to the costs minimums of exercise, which include, on one side, the average cost of the fuel for kilometer of distance and, from the other, the operating costs of the transport enterprise. The costs minimums are determined by means of agreements of field concluded between the associations of carriers and the associations of outsourcers of transport services. To the age of the facts, the Observatory on the road haulage activities (organ composed from representatives of the State, of associations of carriers and associations of outsourcers) was charged to fix the costs minimums in case no agreement was not stipulated. In the 2011 Observatory a series of tables to the aim has adopted all to fix the costs minimums".

With the today's sentence the Court of Strasbourg remembers, in the first instance, than, in spite of the norms of the TFUE on the agreements prohibited between enterprises they are not binding for the Member States, these last ones are nevertheless subordinates to the duty of collaboration with the Union, so that they cannot adopt suitable provisions to eliminate the useful effect of such norms. These turn out therefore violated in case a Member States imposes or easy the conclusion of prohibited understandings, strengthens the effects of such understandings or still its public character delegating to private operators revokes to own norm the responsibility to adopt decisions of participation in economic matter.

In the second place, regarding in the proceedings main the controversial norm, the Court states that the Observatory, composed from representatives of trade associations and majority qualified to act in the exclusive interest of the category, must be considered an association of enterprises directly subject to the competition rules. Consequently, the fixation of the costs minimums of exercise prevents to the enterprises to fix inferior rates to such costs. Therefore, limiting the freedom of the actors of the market to on the road determine the price of the services of transport of goods, the Italian norm is suitable to shrink the game of the competition in the home market.

At last the Law court of the EU finds that the determination of the costs minimums is not suitable, neither directly neither indirectly, to guarantee the attainment of the objective I legitimize asserted from Italy in order to justify the restriction of the competition that is to say (the protection of street safety). In fact, the national norm is limited to take in consideration street safety in generic way, without to establish some nexus between it and the costs minimums. Moreover, the contested provision goes beyond how much necessary one for the strengthening of street safety.

Satisfaction for the sentence is expressed by the Confetra, the Confederation of the Transports and the Logistics, than in representation of the enterprises of the logistic committenza it has introduced one of the hanging resources to the Regional administrative court. "We must accept - it has emphasized the president of Confetra, Nereo Marcucci - the lessons that arrive us from Europe. However in competition topic us they cannot be alternatives at the market. By almost three years we are declared available to the dialogue in order to find solutions fair that they could guarantee the commercial ability to the little ones carriers. Today more than ever this dialogue must have in concrete terms beginning without political interferences".