EU-beleid inzake professionele kwalificaties: Italië mag buitenlandse gidsen niet verbieden toeristengroepen rond te leiden (en)

In its judgement on tourist guides in 1991 (C-180/89), the European Court of Justice ruled that Article 49 of the EC Treaty, on the freedom to provide services, does not permit Member States to require guides accompanying tourist groups to obtain a specific national qualification. The Court set out an exception covering "museums or historical monuments suitable for visiting only if accompanied by a professional and specialist guide".

Italy subsequently published a list identifying the sites where visitors may only be guided around by specialist guides owning a specific, national qualification. This list comprises a very high proportion of those sites in Italy which are frequently visited by groups of tourists and includes more than 2500 sites, covering the whole of the city of Venice and the historical centres of 30 cities, such as Rome, Florence, Siena and Perugia, as well as other publicly accessible sites throughout Italy. As a consequence, tourist guides from other Member States accompanying groups of tourists on visits to Italy have been prevented by the Italian police from acting as guides for their groups at these sites and in some cases issued with on-the-spot fines.

The Commission considers that the size and range of the Italian list far exceeds the scope of the exception set out by the Court and deprives the Court's ruling of much of its substance and value, in particular in requiring guided groups of tourists to be accompanied by a specialist guide at places where tourists are permitted to circulate without a guide if they so choose.

For the latest information on infringement procedures involving all Member States, please consult the following website:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm