COMPETITION PROTECTION IN THE TOURISM SECTOR IN ITALY 337 decree in light of art. 117, paragraph 6 of the Constitution, in order to verify if the centralisation process respects the Constitutional framework of powers and competences8. In this regard, it should be remembered that the Constitutional Court has definitively endorsed the intervention of the State in the field of tourism, despite clarifying that the State legislator can continue to define the substantial scope of the tourism matter in order to harmonise the variety of services offered by the touristic market in Italy, as well as the regional policies. As far as the application of these principles is concerned, the Constitutional Court itself declared the illegitimacy of several provisions of the Code. These concern the new discipline of relations between the State and the Regions in the field of tourism. Specifically, the rules declared illegitimate include those about the classification of hotel and accommodation facilities9. Therefore, as a result of the intervention by the Constitutional Court, the Tourism Code has definitively lost its systematic and organic character. Due to those reasons, its provisions related to the public aspects of tourism are no longer in force. However, the rules regarding the “private law of tourism” remain in force. The Italian system of multilevel governance 2.5. Following the aforementioned ruling of the Constitutional Court, the Italian legislator has yet to redefine the relations between the State and the Regions in the field of tourism law. For this reason, the matter of tourism is currently governed essentially by the Regions, based upon some homogeneous criteria that refer to the previous national framework law on tourism (law no. 217/1983), which also concerns the classification of hotel and accommodation facilities10. However, some time ago the Regions introduced new classification criteria, also regarding some new types of accommodations (for example B&B)11. However, the regulation of some transversal subjects that have been constitutionally assigned to the exclusive competence of the national legislator 8 Constitutional Court, judgments no. 76/2009 and 80/2012. 9 See Constitutional Court, judgment no. 80/2012, discussing the legitimacy of the procedure adopted by the national legislator to enforce the Tourism Code; Note concerning the delegation to the government in matters of tourism; Studies services for the Senate, note no. 122 – July 2019. 10 C. Alvisi, Il diritto del turismo nell’ordine giuridico del mercato, G. Giappichelli Editore, 2015. 11 V. Franceschelli & Francesco Morandi, Manuale di diritto del turismo, VII Edizione, Giappichelli Editore, 2019.
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