"In the last year and a half, the Italian port system has victim of an administrative paralysis that puts at serious risk the efficiency and ability to meet the growing challenges of the logistics and commercial sector. Despite the repeated Declarations of good intentions by the Government and the commitment expressed by Parliament, the facts show a persistent Decision-making incapacity: for months, the appointments of presidents of the Port System Authorities remain blocked in the parliamentary committees, effectively leaving the management in the hands of of commissioners appointed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. This is denounced by the associations of freight forwarders, shipping agents and customs officers of the port of La Spezia specifying that "this situation, although it does not paralyze formally the operation of the authorities, represents a heavy brake on the principles of participation, transparency and control provided for by current legislation".

"The reform of port governance, introduced by the Legislative Decree No. 169 of 2016 and partially integrated into the Law 84/94 - recalls a note Representatives of the operators of the port of La Spezia signed by the secretary general Salvatore Avena - had marked a turning point by establishing fundamental tools such as the Partnership Table and the Management Committee, designed to guarantee: the first a broad representation to share the strategic decisions the second to carry out the activities control but above all vote on the Planning document System Strategy. Today, however, the lack of a decision clear and effective policy has generated a real "vacuum normative". Although they act responsibly, Commissioners operate without the support of collegiate bodies established by law, thus depriving the community port and the territory of the possibility of a confrontation between the main players in the sector and the Authorities of the Port System. The management is correctly of the hands of the Commissioner, while it is not yet possible to convene the representative bodies, which cannot be established due to of the persistent lack of institutional and political initiative".

"This worrying stagnation - continues the note - Added to the fact that, for years now, the government has been announcing a reform of Italian ports which, however, never materializes. These promises, systematically renewed and never kept, further accentuate the sense of uncertainty and the perception of immobility that afflict the sector, slowing down the development of the national port system. The government and Parliament, unable to proceed quickly with appointments, leave the strategic sector of the port "sailing by sight", without a A shared compass without a defined route. It is a that risks compromising the competitiveness of the country and the ability to innovate and grow in markets international ones".

"In such a serious and surreal situation - concludes the note - it is no longer enough to appeal to the usual institutional responsibilities: a real jolt of good luck is needed sense, that sense of institutions that now seems lost and that must return to guiding political choices, beyond any partisan interest. The government and Parliament need to shake up from immobility, finding the courage to return full centrality to collegial bodies, reactivating those mechanisms of comparison, sharing and control that the law and which are essential to protect the general interests of the of the nation. Only with a decisive change of course, the ports will be able to to be concretely the engine of development, innovation and competitiveness that the country deserves with a shared vision and recognized".