Italian beach establishments close umbrellas briefly to protest long-delayed liberalization plans

ROME (AP) — Italian beach establishments mounted a symbolic two-hour strike early Friday aimed at pressuring the government not to enact a decades-old EU directive to liberalize the sector, long a symbol of Italy’s failure to reform the economy. Italy’s 6,500 beach concessions generate some 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in annual revenues, paying just 120 million in licensing fees to operate their business along Italy’s public beaches. The sector was liberalized under an EU directive in 2006, but Italian governments have so far avoided enacting it. A court ruling has extended the licenses through the end of this year, and Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government is under pressure to resolve the question.