Itinerant trade, the licence is valid throughout the country

The licence for the travelling trade allows the sale throughout the territory national, even outside of participation in trade fairs, regional and national. The Supreme Court, in the name offree competition, also affirmed by the Bolkestein directive, upheld the appeal against the administrative sanction inflicted by Roma Capitale on an 'on the road' trader from Campania for having sold his goods in the capital despite having a licence issuedby his region. The Supreme Court therefore annulled the sanction that had instead been endorsed by the Court. According to the judges of merit, in fact, the so-called Bersani decree of '98, which opened the way to liberalisation also in commerce, allows, even after the amendments that came afterwards, itinerant sales throughout the national territory only at trade fairs.

The judges of legitimacy, deciding on the merits, valorise the ratio "Bolkestein directive" on the freedom of establishment and the free movement of services in the internal market and the implementing Legislative Decree (59/2010), which pursues the same objectives. The main aim of the regulations is the complete realisation of the internal market for services in the European Union, harmonising the rules and removing the obstacles that prevent providers from operating across national borders. A framework that is based on "principles of non-discrimination, necessity and proportionality in the regulation of services," reads the ruling, "by providing for the elimination of unjustified or excessively restrictive requirements that could hinder freedom of enterprise.

The rule on the authorisation regime (Legislative Decree 59/2019) also moves along these lines, according to which "the authorisation allows the provider to access the service activity and to exercise it throughout the national territory, including by means of the opening of representations, subsidiaries, branches or offices; exceptions are made for cases in which the need for a specific authorisation or a limitation of the authorisation to a certain part of the territory for each establishment is justified by an overriding reason of general interest". And for the Court of Cassation, in the case of the exercise of itinerant trade on a permanent authorisation, it is not possible to identify an 'overriding reason of general interest'.