Case law does not affirm any right of companies to self-handling with on-board staff and there is no no liberalisation of port activities for the lashing and unlashing operations. The minister said this today of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, responding in the Chamber of Deputies to a question by Luca Pastorino of the Mixed Group-+Europe which, in posing the question, recalled that 'the judgments pronounced by the Council of State on 19 July 2024 on the two appeals by the shipping company Grandi Navi Veloci against the verdicts of the Regional Administrative Court of Genoa relating to to the denials opposed by the Port System Authority of the Ligurian capital to the repeated requests for authorization to entrust the lashing and unlashing operations of the charge, confirmed the judgments of the Court of First Instance Regional Administrative. In the first case - Pastorino recalled - the judges validated all six grounds opposed by the Authority of the Port System to Large Fast Ships. The sentence reiterates the exclusivity of the staff to be assigned to the aforementioned operations, as well as the need to ensure the compliance with the special regulations relating to safety and health of workers assigned to these functions; In addition, the judges of the Council of State rejected the request for structuring advanced by Grandi Navi Veloci, since the eventual authorization for self-production must instead have a occasional agreement, it is confirmed that, on the basis of the collective agreement maritime labour operations, and vehicle halyards must be carried out by ground personnel and not by seafarers, by virtue of the reserve in favour of ground staff'. "The second sentence - the deputy recalled again - recognized the right to self-handling by a company already authorized to operate, but within the limits provided for by this authorization which does not contemplates the possibility of using cabin crew who is not exclusively dedicated to these tasks".

Finally, recalling that the issue has been rekindled by some statements by Grandi Navi Veloci on the possibility to carry out the lashing of the "ro-ro" in self-handling, Pastorino asked the minister "what initiatives of competence intends to put in place so that it is the current structure has been guaranteed, in line with the above, protecting the quality of the work and the employment of port workers".

In reply, Salvini recalled that "the discipline of sector, contained in the 1994 framework law, was amended in 2020 to deal with emergencies arising from the Covid. In particular, he specified, it was envisaged that self-handling was allowed only if it was not possible meet the demand for port operations by authorised companies or through the provision of labour temporary port service: these are the workers - underlined Salvini - whose protection is as close to her heart as I am. All the requirements that the applicant ship must have in order for it to be authorized to carry out in self-production of port services. Recent rulings underline the regulatory constraints for carrying out self-production of lashing and unlashing operations by the maritime carrier, reiterating that the same is required to highlight additional staff to those indicated in the ship's armament table and that the same must be dedicated exclusively for the performance of port operations. In addition The national collective agreement for the sector may establish a reserve in favour of ground staff in carrying out the operations referred to above".

"The case law referred to, therefore," continued the Minister - does not affirm any right of shipping companies self-handling with on-board personnel, confirming that it must be used ground personnel within the limits provided for by the authorisations issued under the 1994 Act. We, as Ministry, we are therefore faced with a clear picture and there is no no liberalisation of port activities for the lashing and unlashing operations, nor is such could be considered possible today, taking into account of the regulatory constraints that I have mentioned".

"As far as I am concerned," Salvini concluded, "I I limit myself to reiterating that the Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Infrastructure and Transport, in collaboration with the Authorities of the Port System - obviously - will continue to monitor the correct application of the rules on port operations, because the common effort to protect employment prospects of port work, as well as the quality and safety of the related services".