On the occasion of today's hearing at the IX Commission in the Chamber of Deputies on the bill for the reorganization of the Law no. 84 of 28 January 1994 on port governance and revival of investments in strategic infrastructure in the maritime transport, the Italian Confederation of Shipowners has expressed an overall positive assessment of the establishment of a central control room for the identification of infrastructures strategic for the national port system, considering, however, it is necessary to clearly define their competences, the relationship between the functions of grantor and concessionaire and the fully public capacity, in order to ensure independence and adequate capacity decision-making.

According to Confitarma, at the same time, it is essential distinguish precisely the role of the central subject from that of the Port System Authorities, strengthening their function of industrial direction of the development of the territories and safeguarding strategic ports not included in the TEN-T network. In addition, the Confederation has called for particular attention to be paid to financing mechanisms of this central entity, the Ports d'Italia Spa, so that a balance that avoids repercussions on the budgets of the Port System Authorities and consequent increases in taxes and fees, thus preserving the competitiveness of Italian ports.

Finally, Confitarma reiterated the need to ensure an adequate and structured presence of the shipping industry in port governance bodies, so that the sector can contribute permanently to decision-making processes, also in the light of the current associative pluralism.

Today, the Transport Committee heard in detail The National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) also heard which, while recognising the need to overcome fragmentation of strategic port interventions, expressed concern that the new structure focused on Porti d'Italia Spa distances further decisions from the territories, after marginalization already started by the 2020 reform.

In memory presented by ANCI, it can be observed that the reference model - the Spanish one, based on a single implementing entity, Puertos del Estado - works because it is grafted onto a port network from a geographical and market point of view, while Italy is divided into at least six distinct port systems operating on differentiated markets. For ANCI, mechanically replicating the model would therefore risk adding to the existing fragmentation new administrative confusion, without solving the problem of background.

The association of municipalities has presented corrective proposals to the bill that provide for the participation of the Municipalities in the share capital of Porti d'Italia Spa and a representation territorial in a constituting Steering Committee and coordination, the passage of the Framework Convention between the new Spa and the Port System Authorities under consideration of an Agreement in the Unified Conference, as well as the maintenance of the current in the Management Committees of the Port Authorities, without the addition of members designated by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and by Ports of Italy, and the autonomy of the Port Authorities in the appointment of the Secretary General without binding ministerial opinions. In addition, ANCI proposes a binding opinion of the Municipalities, and not merely on the Strategic Planning Document of the System and on Port Master Plans, recalling the ruling on this point of the Constitutional Court no. 6/2023, which reaffirmed the centrality of the of local participation especially in the areas of interaction port-city, and the establishment of an equalization fund, Fuelled by a share of existing port revenues (therefore not a new tax), to finance mitigation and urban redevelopment in municipalities that bear the negative externalities of port traffic.

At the hearing today the general commander of the Port Authority Corps, Admiral Chief Inspector Sergio Liardo, expressed his appreciation for the objective of the reform, but pointed out an absence that considers relevant: the Maritime Authority is mentioned only incidentally among the subjects governed by Law 84/94, without appear as a structural component of the new programming and planning mechanisms. The admiral has highlighted that, however, the major port works - dredging, expansion of the basins, new quays, new traffic or new fuels - directly affect the safety of the navigation and the operational structure of the ports and, for this reason, according to the Coast Guard, the assessment of safety profiles cannot be relegated to a phase subsequent to the planning, but it must be integrated from the beginning of the decision-making process, to prevent it from becoming a mere control with the risk of delays in the implementation of the works.

Liardo also recalled a possible discontinuity between the structure of the bill and the addresses of the 2026-2028 Sea Plan, which instead attributes the Maritime Authority has an essential role in the policies of safety, monitoring and technical regulation of the sea system.

Finally, in today's hearing, the Acting President of the Italian Competition Authority, Elisabetta Iossa, with regard to the centralization of the governance envisaged by the bill, noted that the current fragmentation of the national port system justifies the of the reform, already hoped for in a 2024 report. However, the AGCM suggests that objective criteria be established by law to establish the order of priority of the interventions of the Plan (competitive impact, adaptation of the seabed, intermodality, cold ironing infrastructures, positioning on the TEN-T corridors).

On the front of the port concessions, the AGCM expressed its appreciation for the obligation to start the tender procedures at least twelve months in advance of the deadline, but reiterated a position already expressed in the 2024: the procedures that can be activated at the request of a party should be eliminated, because they place the proposer in a position of competitive advantage over competitors. In the alternative, it proposes to mitigate this imbalance with greater documentary transparency, Longer deadlines for the submission of alternative proposals (at least 120 days for multi-year concessions) and publication notices in the Official Journal of the EU for concessions of duration of more than ten years.

Finally, the Authority Competition and Market Authority has proposed to introduce in Law 84/94 an explicit obligation of equitable, reasonable access and non-discriminatory to port infrastructures, transposing the EU Regulation 2017/352 - currently absent in national legislation - accompanied by sanctions: revocation of the concession in the event of violation of the obligation of access, financial penalty for the lack of transparency of rates and conditions of service.