Yesterday in the Transport Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, the proposed amendments were rejected, mostly to the objections to Article 9 of the bill for the reorganization of the Law 84/1994 on port governance and investments in Strategic maritime infrastructures, an article that is dedicated to to Porti d'Italia Spa, the new joint-stock company wholly public capital which would be assigned the task of plan and implement strategic works.

In particular, the amendments that asked to limit the company to the institutional tasks of coordination for which it is established, excluding the possibility of that Porti d'Italia Spa also operates in a market regime, leaving it only the activities to be carried out under the concession regime. About Valentina Ghio (PD), recalling the observations expressed by ANAC at the hearing, underlined that the activities under concession and under the risks creating critical issues and distortions of the competition.

Proposals for greater involvement of the territories: one provided for the appointment of a member of the Council by ANCI, representing the mayors of the Municipalities where ports are located, as requested by the association itself; others attributed to the port municipalities a share of 5% of the capital a commitment that MP Luca Pastorino (Misto) has quantified at about 500,000 euros.

Regarding the possible participation of the Municipalities in the share capital, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Edoardo Rixi, explained that the government's opposition is linked to the fact that it is not clear what role the Municipalities would have, which - specified - would have a unitary participation in the whole minority not able to confer any power on local authorities control or management system. In addition, Rixi recalled that Porti of Italy would not manage the territories, but would carry out works strategic issues of national and European interest on the territory national, and would have as a reference at the local level, if anything, the Port System Authority. The rapporteur of the draft law, Maria Grazia Frijia (Fratelli d'Italia) ruled out any preclusion towards the Municipalities, noting that they do not even participate in the companies of ministries, such as ANAS.

The proposal to set up a Steering Committee was also rejected political-institutional with advisory functions. Deputy Minister Rixi replied by arguing that for a joint-stock company the rules of common law apply and invited to avoid hybrid solutions that transform the Ports of Italy into an entity public. He added that the board of directors will be able to in any case, to set up independent advisory bodies, to promote dialogue with local authorities.

Beyond the rejections, however, the issues set aside in recent sessions, including the duration of the concession in the hands of the Ports of Italy, set by the text in 99 years, extraordinary maintenance and participation in the capital of society. The path of the bill risks therefore to slow down with respect to the possible window between the end of the October and early November for the vote of the Chamber indicated by the Deputy Minister Rixi. The Commission will resume its examination in another session.