Commenting on yesterday's approval in the Chamber of Deputies of an amendment to the Infrastructure Decree-Law relating to the Agencies for the administration of work in the port ( of 8 July 2025), the Port System Authority of the Seas Southern Tyrrhenian and Ionian Sea highlighted that it is a a very important result that allows us to anticipate the transformation of the Gioia Tauro Port Agency into a port company pursuant to Article 17 - paragraph 5 - of Law 84/94, a company limited liability which will have as its object the provision of temporary work to port companies (art.16 and 18 of Law 84/94).

The Calabrian port authority has announced that the amendment has found inspiration from a letter that the president of the Port Authority of Southern Tyrrhenian and Ionian Sea, Andrea Agostinelli sent to the President of the Calabria Region, Roberto Occhiuto, so that consideration should be given to the advisability of tabling an amendment to the Infrastructure Decree aimed at overcoming the block on the transformation determined by the expiry of the Port Agency scheduled for December 31, 2026. Following the discussions that Agostinelli had with the lawyer Cantarini of the Office of Cabinet of President Occhiuto - specified the port authority - an amendment has been drawn up which bears the signature by the Honorable Francesco Cannizzaro of Forza Italia.

The amendment proposed the addition of paragraph 2-bis, according to which "in Article 4, paragraph 8, of the Decree-Law 243 of 29 December 2016, converted, with amendments, by Law 18 of 27 February 2017, the words: "Upon expiry of the thirty-six months' are replaced by the following: 'Until on expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1' and after the words: "the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport may" the following are inserted: 'in any case'".

Paragraph 8 of Article 4 of Decree-Law 243/2016 provides that "at the end of the thirty-six months, if they remain in force to the Agency referred to in paragraph 1, workers who have not been re-employed, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport can authorise the transformation of this Agency, upon request of the competent Port System Authority and where the conditions are met, in an Agency within the meaning of Article 17 of Law No. 84 of 28 January 1994". Paragraph 1 of Article 4 of the decree-law establishes that, "in order to support employment, to accompany the processes of reconversion industrial port infrastructure and to avoid serious detriment to port operations and efficiency, in the ports in which at least 80 percent of the movement of goods takes place or has occurred in the last five years in transhipment mode and have persisted for at least five years states of corporate crisis or cessation of activities terminals, exceptionally and temporarily, for a period of maximum not exceeding ((one hundred and fourteen months)), starting from 1 January 2017 is established by the Italian Supervisory Authority Port System, in agreement with the Ministry of Infrastructure and of Transport, by resolution of the Management Committee or the Committee port where it exercises its functions in prorogatio, a for the administration of work in the port and for the professional retraining, which brings together the workers made redundant in companies operating under Article 16 of Law No. 84 of 28 January 1994, including workers made redundant in companies holding concessions pursuant to of Article 18 of the aforementioned Law No. 84 of 1994".

It is - commented Agostinelli - "one of the extraordinary result that must be traced back to the initiative of the Port System Authority of the Tyrrhenian Seas Southern and Ionian Sea, which strongly wanted the establishment of the company, and to the active interest of the Cabinet Office of the Regional Presidency and to Mr Cannizzaro, whom I thank for sensitivity as well as President Occhiuto, the lawyer Cantarini and the director general of the Ministry of Infrastructure Donato Liguori. The new governance of the Authority of the Port System will have the road paved towards the establishment of the company pursuant to Article 17 of Law 84/94 which will absorb the remaining workers still registered in the Agency's list and additional workers with the qualifications of interest to the terminal operators for a total number of 100 workers".