Case C-574/25, Balneari Rimini II: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Giudice di pace di Rimini (Italy) lodged on 2 September 2025 – Balneari Rimini v Comune di Rimini
Date: 2025-09-02
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Italy, coastal region, provision of services, public property, service concession, services of general interest, tourism








C_202505814EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/5814


10.11.2025






Request for a preliminary ruling from the Giudice di pace di Rimini (Italy) lodged on 2 September 2025 – Balneari Rimini v Comune di Rimini


(Case C-574/25, Balneari Rimini II)

(C/2025/5814)
Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Giudice di pace di Rimini

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Balneari Rimini

Defendant: Comune di Rimini

Questions referred







1.


Must Article 195 and Article 51 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in the light of Article 345 TFEU, recitals 9 and 57, Article 1(5) and Article 2(2)(a) and (i) of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market, (1) be interpreted as meaning that concessions of State-owned coastal land used for tourism and recreational purposes, such as the one held by the applicant, which operates in the tourism sector and consistently and regularly provides non-economic services in the public interest and carries out activities in the public interest on State-owned land, such as the safeguarding of public property, the protection of public health and hygiene, the protection of the right of disabled people to have access to heliotherapy and bathing activities, as well as tourism, cultural and environmental activities, are excluded from the scope of harmonisation directives, such as Directive 2006/123/EC, and/or from the scope of Article 49 TFEU?










2.


Must concessions of State-owned coastal land used for tourism and recreational purposes, such as the one held by the applicant, the holder of which does not provide specific services for the awarding entity, but exercises an economic activity on State-owned land on the basis of an agreement that gives it the right to exploit certain public domains or resources under private or public law, whereby the State establishes only general conditions for their use, where such concessions involve natural resources, be considered excluded from the scope of the authorisation referred to in Directive 2006/123/EC and/or the service concessions with a cross-border interest referred to in Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts, in the light of recitals 4 and 15 of Directive 2014/23/EU? (2)











3.


Regardless of the answers to the previous questions, … are concessions of State-owned coastal land used for tourism and recreational purposes, such as the one held by the applicant, which commenced prior to 28 December 2009 and was repeatedly extended by law for an unlimited period, most recently in accordance with Article 24(3-septies) of Decree-Law No 113 of 24 June 2016, without a new concession and without any material change in the concession, outside the scope of Directive 2006/123/EC pursuant to Article 44 of the Services Directive and, directly or by analogy, Article 43 of Directive 2014/23/EU?










4.


Regardless of the answers to the previous questions, … does Article 12 of Directive 2006/123/EC apply to concessions of State-owned coastal land used for tourism and recreational purposes, such as the one held by the applicant, at the time when the Italian Government, as owner of the coastal land, through the Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri (Prime Minister’s Office, Italy), with the official report of 6 October 2023, noted that the coastal natural resource was not scarce, taking into account the national data, according to a general and abstract, proportionate and non-discriminatory approach, and are Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union and the principle of sincere cooperation infringed by the conduct of the European Commission which, in its reasoned opinion of 16 November 2023 which closed infringement procedure No 2020/4118, opened by letter of formal notice of 3 December 2020, criticised national data on the lack of scarcity of the natural resource, threatening action for failure to fulfil obligations under Article 258 TFEU before the Court of Justice and disseminating the full content of the reasoned opinion, or allowing its widest possible dissemination?






(1)  
            OJ 2006 L 376, p. 36.

(2)  Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts (OJ 2014 L 94, p. 1).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/5814/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)