Federagenti has promoted the bill with flying colors government on port governance and the relaunch of the investments in strategic maritime transport infrastructure, condition that the reform favors "private investment in ports, according to mixed finance or partnership models public-private" and, moreover, provided that "the decisions strategic measures adopted at national level are preceded, and then accompanied, by a constant and punctual institutional comparison that is not limited to involving the Port System Authorities and other competent bodies and/or administrations, but takes care to involve the entire complex of stakeholders in the sector port and maritime sectors".

At yesterday's informal hearing at the Transport Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, the federation National Insurance Agency, Shipping Agents and Brokers highlighted that, in fact, it is precisely the latter subjects "those who are best aware of the needs of the markets, their prospects for evolution, and can therefore provide central indications on how to direct investments, all the more so in a perspective of necessary selection of those who really priority over the fiscal capacity of the State".

Confirming its appreciation for the structure and approach of the Reform bill, Federagenti has pointed out that it considers essential that, during the parliamentary process of examining the proposal preserved, guaranteed and, if possible, strengthened some aspects of the reform, first of all ensuring that this takes place "limiting the impact on continuity as much as possible operational activities of the ports and ongoing initiatives, in particular infrastructural". Furthermore, according to the federation, "the reform must safeguard the basic idea of a "direction" on the choice of large infrastructures (not only necessary to improve and maintain our ports on high standards", must also encourage investment private sector in ports and "must correct critical issues unanimously recognized in the application of Law no. 84/1994 (two examples; the regulation of port master plans and dredging), and, if politically feasible, perhaps even improve other aspects on which reflections have been made for some time (for example, the port work, all the more so in view of the impact that automation and artificial intelligence will also have on ports). Finally, for Federagenti "the reform must not aggravate the management of ports, nor to add decision-making levels: rather, the goal must be the opposite. And in this regard, the reform should therefore also promote a decisive uniformity administrative practices that still appear very differentiated depending on the Port Authority".

On the centralization of the planning of the Strategic investments for Italian ports and the new station sole contractor hypothesized in the reform bill, Federagenti has expressed, as a preliminary step, agreement for the setting of the measure "in identifying, as a central objective port reform, the need for planning strategic policy at national level on new interventions and extraordinary maintenance on the strategic transport infrastructures under the responsibility of the Port Authority'. Furthermore, according to the federation, the attribution, for a 99 years, to Porti d'Italia Spa, the new company for the development and promotion of the Italian network of provided for by the Bill, "of a series of functions aimed at the national coordination of strategic investments of in question gives stability to the hypothetical system and, once it has been broken in, it is suitable for guaranteeing implementation, simplifying and rationalising certain prerogatives exercised at the local level, and at the same time ensuring greater Uniformity of decision-making processes and procedures significant". "A model of this type - he explained Federagenti - certainly seems to us suitable to reduce in a way the decision-making and operational inhomogeneities that, often, characterize the different local realities on these themes, concentrating in a single highly technical and specialized in the design and construction skills of strategic works. A centralized model of this type appears also consistent with the objective of resolving any duplication, inefficiencies or disparities between operators, benefit of the attractiveness of the system as a whole and, therefore, of the entrepreneurial activities carried out in individual stopovers". The federation has highlighted that it believes, however, It is necessary that strategic decisions taken at national level are preceded and then accompanied by a comparison also with stakeholders in the port and maritime sector.

If the danger of exceeding both in the forms of bureaucracy and that in the simplification of procedures, However, Federagenti does not seem willing to ensure that the requests of these stakeholders are effectively accepted, or at least examined, as he considers that "an involvement of this type, which should be implemented in the best possible way, seen by the legislator, but with our preference for concerts lean and non-blocking, is an element in our opinion essential for the achievement of the objectives of rationalization, sharing and efficiency of processes at the basis of the reform, also with a view to multiplying the economic effects of the investments in question, which are certainly more effective if generated by a shared context such as the one just described, which is also the closest the possibility of finding private capital that participate in the implementation of the projects". Fundamental, For the Federation of Maritime Agents, it would therefore be the decisions taken at central level: these are - he pointed out Federagenti - "of an aspect that we believe is really central to the for the purpose of identifying strategic interventions, priorities to be awarded to them, as well as the allocation of the relevant economic resources at local level, so as to align the strategic decisions taken at central level (and then implemented by Porti d'Italia S.p.A.) with the needs of the sector and respectful of the relevant interests, precisely through that coordination strategic "upstream" that the reform aims to create".

With regard to the centrality of decision-making power, Federagenti believes that it is appropriate "a more complete definition of the perimeter of investments intended as "strategic" within the meaning of the law, and consequently of the competences of Porti d'Italia S.p.A. in the matter, with respect to those characterized by evaluations that, again in the contemplated by the reform, would remain the responsibility of the local Port Authority'.

The federation also requested clarification on the responsibilities of Porti d'Italia Spa as the entity in charge of 'services of general public interest', in that - it has Federagenti recalled - the Bill attributes to it "a "double soul", which is reflected in the activities to it intended to, namely: on the one hand, the performance, under the concession, of services identified as "of interest general public related to the implementation of investments strategic works of international and national importance in and in extraordinary maintenance ... identified by the Plan' and 'on the other hand, the the provision of engineering activities under market conditions, design and construction of infrastructure works port on behalf of third parties, where these activities do not lead to situations of conflict of interest with respect to those exercised by Porti d'Italia S.p.A. under the concession".

Furthermore, Federagenti specified, "with a view to avoiding pernicious complications, the division of competences between Porti d'Italia S.p.A. and the Port Authority once the works have been carried out and/or co-created as works concessionaire". Federagenti, in fact, "believes The risk of introducing a "hybrid" regime is very dangerous concessions in the same port (some managed by the Port Authority, others by Porti d'Italia S.p.A.), and therefore suggests that the second must then return the works carried out to the competent Port Authority, the who can then assign them through the models procedures applicable in the legal system, or (and where appropriate) return them to the private concessionaire, so that these infrastructures can then be managed according to the logic of market competitiveness, even in the towards users".

A division of competences to which, in the opinion of Federagenti, should obviously also correspond to a distribution of the revenues due to the Authorities of Port System and Ports of Italy Spa, an issue that is one of the of the most controversial points of the government's proposal to reform of port rules and which has recorded the opposition of the State General Accounting Office to what shares of the concession fees are paid to Ports of Italy: "we are Aware - explained the Federation - that these aspects have significant economic impacts (e.g. on the entitlement of concession fees then paid by the concessionaires), but we believe that these profiles can be overcome by allocating proportionally the same fees on Porti d'Italia S.p.A. and on the Port Authority concerned". A proposal that seems to contradict the previous suggestion of the same Federagenti to "retrograde the works carried out to the competent Port Authority".