To venture outdoors in heat-struck southern Europe these days is an act of sweaty defiance. Perhaps the only sensible place to head for is the seaside. In most countries, little more is needed for a successful beach outing than a few spades, a parasol and sunscreen (trashy romance novel optional). Those heading for the shore in Italy, however, should also bring their wallets. From Bari to Venice to Palermo, much of the Italian coast is in effect the private property of a lucky few. Families holding concessions to run beach-side establishments monopolise the shoreline with row after row of reclining chairs and brightly-coloured parasols. Forking out the price of a couple of cinema tickets for a day’s shade is a staple of Italian summers, on a par with gelato and the national football team underperforming in the World Cup.
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As economic actors go, there may be worse than these amiable balneari, dedicated to offering sweltering customers a respite from the sun and an occasional lemonade. And yet, the manner in which Italian beaches are run has left European authorities redder in the face than a toddler unattended in the sun. For over a decade the European Commission in distant, drizzly Brussels has tried to make the sector comply with rules ensuring the EU economy is open and competitive. In its view the balneari arrangements amount to the capture of a lucrative business sector by protected incumbents—the very thing crimping European growth. Is that so? To grasp the nature of this vital issue better, Charlemagne grabbed his sunglasses and flip-flops for a visit to the Italian coast.
The fight comes down to who can be balneari. Most concessions dotting Italy’s 8,000km of coast are family affairs, some tracing back to old fishing huts or handed out as a sop to war veterans decades ago. They have become a big business: the 12,000 or so establishments probably rake in over €10bn ($10.9bn) a year. Since they operate on public land, a hefty slice of that ought to end up in the coffers of local authorities. But rents charged amount to little more than €100m, a tiny amount. Even with the expense of a few brollies, the margins to be made should be attractive to newcomers. They might have new ideas about how to run a beach shack, offer keener prices, or perhaps be willing to pay the state higher fees. But since the 1990s the Italian authorities have allowed existing concessions to be renewed all but automatically. This has created a closed shop, like taxis protected from competition.
The European Commission wants Italian authorities to get their heads out of the sand. Under EU rules enacted in 2006 that extended the bloc’s single market from goods to services, anyone should be able to compete to bid to run such businesses. That includes any Italian who might fancy having a go at renting out beach chairs, or indeed any European. To this end the EU has demanded changes to balneari concessions. These should be tendered out openly—perhaps through auctions, though not necessarily—for limited periods of time and according to objective criteria. Such criteria cannot include arguments such as “My papà used to run this concession, and his papà before him”. Only then will competition flourish and consumers win.
“Mamma Mia!” is the collective Italian response. Complying with EU diktats would upend decades of tradition. What if big hotel groups decided to muscle in on the beach trade—worse, what if German hotel groups started winning concessions? Given that Italy’s shoreline is also its border, would national security be assured without authentic balneari policing the coast?
Luckily for incumbents, Italian authorities have run rings around fuming Eurocrats. Official rebukes started coming from Brussels in 2008, backed by rulings from EU courts. Politicians in Rome periodically promise change to bring the sector into line. This prompts Brussels to drop its complaint—at which point the concessions are extended again. In 2022 the technocratic government of Mario Draghi became the latest to promise new tenders for balneari, by the end of this year. Giorgia Meloni, the populist who took over as prime minister, soon reversed course; an ally of hers denounces the forced tendering the EU wants as “expropriation”. Icons of summer fun, the balneari have considerable lobbying power—a recent ministerial meeting featured 11 trade associations speaking for the beach-bum industry. Their latest wheeze to kick the can down the road is to demand a time-consuming mapping of Italy’s coastline, which they think will show there are enough spots left to issue fresh concessions to newcomers.
Talk to the sand
The situation is hardly ideal for balneari. “For many years we have been trying to figure out what to do,” says Alessandro Rizzo, who runs a concession on the Lido, a short vaporetto ferry ride from Venice. Investing to improve facilities is hard to justify, given the uncertainty. His family has run the joint’s 260 cabins—most of which are rented out by local families for the summer, at a cost of up to €6,000—since the 1970s. Yes, he acknowledges he is the recipient of a handy distortion. But the undue privilege comes with obligations not fully grasped by Brussels types: the balneari take care of the beach, keep teenagers out of trouble, ensure that everyone tans peacefully. Why must everything be run according to the kind of rules that give big business an edge over the average man?
Plenty of Italians think the concessions should not be transferred to new balneari, but cancelled: there are parts of the country where private-parasol joints are so rife it is impossible to visit a beach without paying. Viewed from Brussels, the tussle is part of an enduring struggle for the soul of the European economy, notably that of its poorer south. In too many sectors, incumbents are mollycoddled: think of workers clinging onto comfy jobs-for-life even as the unemployed struggle for opportunity. The privileges given to a lucky few end up amounting to huge costs for the many. The economy loses dynamism as outsiders ache to break in. Something to ponder while waiting for that limonata.■
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
