Council of State: on compensation for the outgoing maritime public-domain concessionaire

By Judgment No. 6539/2026, published on 18 August 2026, the Council of State (Section VII) ruled on compensation in favour of outgoing beach concession holders with regard to the investments made.

The Court first clarified that the pre-existing text of Law No. 118/2022 applies to procedures commenced before the entry into force of Decree-Law No. 131/2024. That text provided only for compensation for non-amortized investments, payable by the incoming operator, while the “fair remuneration” of the investments of the last five years, introduced subsequently, does not have retroactive effect.

As regards non-removable works, the judgment under examination refers to the Court of Justice of the EU (C-598/22), which held lawful the free-of-charge reversion to the State provided for by Article 49 of the Navigation Code. It nevertheless remains possible to provide in the tender notices, on a case-by-case basis, for remuneration of non-amortized investments.

On the basis of opinion No. 750/2025, the Council of State then specified that compensation is merely contingent and admits of no automatism, flat-rate calculation or generalization, since otherwise it would confer on the outgoing service provider an advantage prohibited by Directive (EC) 2006/123 (the so-called Bolkestein Directive). Moreover, the burden of proving the investments made and not yet amortized lies with the outgoing concessionaire. Neither the failure to adopt the ministerial decree on the calculation criteria nor the absence from the tender documents of a clause on compensation can prevent the tenders from being launched. For outgoing operators, it therefore becomes decisive to rigorously document the non-amortized investments.

To access the decision, click here.