'The report of the Guarantor Authority of the Competition and the Market of 21 June 2023 leaves us dismayed». This is highlighted by Lorenzo Basso and Valentina Ghio, parliamentarians of the Democratic Party, referring to the report of the AGCM sent the President of the Council of Ministers and the Presidents of the Chamber and Senate in which, with regard to port operations, it is noted that Article 199 bis of Decree-Law 34/2020 would limit "seriously the right to self-handling of operations and services ports, making it a merely residual option for carriers seafarers". "The norm is born - underline Basso and Ghio - to protect Italian companies operating in ports, subject to taxation and ordinary contributions like all companies Italian. The AGCM insists instead to allow maritime carriers to carry out port operations with personnel embarked on the ship. The Authority does not seem to know that the shipowning companies have tax and social security benefits of advantage compared to the general national undertakings, on the basis of the rules on International register and tonnage tax. Yet the AGCM insists to favor these companies to the detriment of all Italian companies operating in ports. It is even more striking than in a phase of very strong concentration of terminal ownership ports and accentuated vertical integration of the supply chain logistics, the AGCM continues to put under the magnifying glass A rule that represents a negligible value compared to the items in play of national interests'.

Very critical of this finding of the AGCM also Uiltrasporti, according to which 'the intervention requested from the Antitrust to the government about the limitations to the activity of self-handling in port operations - denounce the Secretary General and National Secretary of the Organization trade union, Claudio Tarlazzi and Marco Odone - is "of a extreme gravity'. "In general," they note. Tarlazzi and Odone - chaos reigns in our country that does not help to develop appropriate economic and social conditions so that there are We constantly find ourselves in the condition in which Parliament legislates, then the administrative courts are asked to confirm or minus these laws and to this are added the authorities that bypass the skills of both reversing even with doubts purposes such as in this case the reporting of the Antitrust for ports'. "The Antitrust - observe the representatives of Uiltrasporti - should protect healthy competition in the country, while instead we see it intervene in a way that feeds doubts with respect to the genuineness of the considerations made'.

'As regards the request to limit self-production - continue the secretaries of the UILT - in addition to there is a rule of law recently confirmed by the TAR of the Liguria in line with the principles of Community law, which provides that carriers are excluded from self-handling, but at the contrary are authorised if they meet certain requirements, the same requirements for granting authorisations undertakings for the loading and unloading of goods referred to in Article 16 ( of June 2023, ed). It is a rule that clarifies, protects work in ports and seafarers, who would risk be hyper exploited in the phases of ground operations after those navigation. It should be remembered that if you take away work from the Port workers there is also a mark-up on taxation general because those workers must be paid compensation for non-start-up.'

"The Antitrust also - conclude Tarlazzi and Odone - calls for action to make possible the fungibility of workers from one enterprise to another in the presence of more than one concessions in the same port and for the same merchandise. The law Regulation (EEC) No 84/94 had prohibited a dealer from having more concessions for the same commodity, and this responded to the logic of keeping the port market open but regulated and not discriminatory, to avoid situations of monopolies or oligopolies. The A rule derogating from this principle is therefore already in place. countertrend, but above all, if the government were to implement what the Antitrust asks, would determine an employment problem and health and safety in the port area. We therefore ask that these requests are not implemented so as not to distort and preclude an economic and social development of the Italian port system'.