President
European Commission

Dear President,

I have received a complaint against the European Commission and have decided to open an inquiry into this complaint.

The complaint concerns the Commission’s handling of an infringement procedure against Italy regarding the rules for granting authorisations to use public maritime domains for seaside tourism and leisure services (‘beach concessions') - INFR(2020)4118. 

The complainant contends that (i) the Commission has incurred significant and unjustified delays in its handling of infringement procedure INFR(2020)4118; (ii) the Commission has systematically failed to communicate adequately and transparently with the complainant and the wider public about the matter; and (iii) more generally, the Commission’s discretion in handling infringement procedure is not accompanied by adequate control and accountability mechanisms, undermining the effectiveness of EU law with an impact on national administrations and systems that should implement it.

In view of the above, the complainant claims that the Commission should take a decision on the infringement procedure INFR(2020)4118 without any further delay and provide additional information about the status of the procedure and of the steps taken so far.

I have now concluded that it would be useful to receive a written reply from the Commission to this complaint.

Please note that I am likely to send your reply and related enclosures to the complainants for comments^[1].

I would be grateful to receive the Commission’s reply by 18 September 2026, setting out in detail the steps taken by the Commission since it issued the first letter of formal notice. I would be grateful if the Commission could submit the reply in Italian, which is the language of the complaint. I may also decide to publish the Commission’s reply.

I have also decided that, for the purposes of the inquiry, it is necessary for my inquiry team to inspect the full Commission file concerning the infringement procedure in question, also by 18 September 2026. The documents should include copies of any internal assessment (including documents that may not have been registered) and copies of all correspondence and relevant documents exchanged between the Commission and Italy (including documents that may not have been registered) since the first letter of formal notice was issued in 2020. Information or documents that your institution considers to be confidential will not be disclosed to the complainant or any other person without the prior agreement of the Commission^[2].

Once my inquiry team has inspected the file, the inquiry team may also request a meeting to seek clarifications on any remaining issues.

The responsible inquiries officer is Ludovica Aquino.

Yours sincerely,

Teresa Anjinho
European Ombudsman

Strasbourg, 17/06/2026

 

[1] If you wish to submit documents or information that you consider to be confidential, and which should not be disclosed to the complainant, please mark them ‘Confidential’. Encrypted emails can be sent to our dedicated mailbox. Information and documents of this kind will be deleted from the European Ombudsman’s files shortly after the inquiry has ended.

[2] Please clearly mark such material ‘Confidential’. Information and documents of this kind will be deleted from the European Ombudsman’s files shortly after the inquiry has ended.