336 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM Instead, after this reformation, the matter of “tourism and hotel business” was removed from the concurrent competences of the central Government and Regions, becoming implicitly included in the so-called residuals competences (as named by paragraph 6 of art. 117 of the Constitution), those of exclusive regional competence. 2.3. However, also due to the inefficiency of some regions in exercising the prerogatives entrusted to them, the decentralisation process suffered a setback, put into effect with the approval of the legislative decree no. 79 of 23 May 2011 (hereinafter, referred to as the “Tourism Code”)6. According to the Italian legislator, the main objective of this Code was condensing into one regulatory system the complex and fragmented existing rules. This action triggered a centralisation process. In pursuit of this objective, the Italian Legislator introduced a Code in which, firstly, the State’s competences in the field of law production for the tourism sector were clarified and, secondly, an organic regulation of tourism from a public and private point of view was introduced7. For what regards public regulation, the intervention of the Code took up the provisions of the previous framework law on tourism (law no. 217/1983), and also introduced a new classification of hotel and non-hotel facilities in order to standardise the definitions across the national territory, despite leaving them intact for the rest of the legislative competences of the relevant Regions. This classification of the facilities has given rise to numerous interventions by ICA. In particular, by these actions ICA pointed out unjustified competitive restrictions due to the different classifications, which are often connected to the organisational methods of the tour operators, not to the different services being offered. 2.4. Subsequently, the Code was at the centre of two decisions by the Constitutional Court: the Court ruled on the constitutional legitimacy of the 6 In this regard, the numerous provisions governing and coordinating regional tourism policies are significant. However, the actual regulatory interventions implemented by the State, such as the one introduced with a 2002 decree which established minimum standards for tourist activities, are even more significant because of their mandatory nature for regional legislation. 7 The new Tourism Code states that the legislative intervention of the State is allowed when its main object constitutes the exercise of an autonomous or concurrent legislative competence, and when required by needs of unity – such as the enhancement, development and competitiveness of the tourism sector as a fundamental resource of the country or the reorganisation and unity of the Italian tourist offer (art. 2).
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