Confindustria Nautica: “Simplification and reforms are needed”. The treasury loses 500 million in five years
Rome – The crisis of the Italian flag does not only concern the merchant fleet: in recreational boating the situation is even more drastic. According to Confindustria Nautica, based on the statistical yearbook of recreational boating in Italy 2024 by the Mit, in five years deletions from the register have seen an increase of 256%, with record peaks of 3,500–3,800 boats per year between 2022 and 2023, compared to a fleet of about 70 thousand units. In 2024 the phenomenon slows down but remains high (about one thousand exits), while new registrations collapse by 76% compared to 2019 (from 1,015 to 240 units).
Paradoxically, the industrial sector is experiencing an unprecedented boom: in the last ten years the export of Italian boating has grown by 119%, surpassing that of the entire shipbuilding sector led by Fincantieri. In 2024, production reaches 8.3 billion and employment exceeds 220 thousand units. But the growth comes almost exclusively from foreign markets, while in Italy the flagging suffers from the weight of bureaucracy, complex procedures and the remodulation of VAT on nautical leasing, the main form of financing for the sector. According to Confindustria Nautica, this last item alone has caused a tax loss of 500 million in five years.
The president Piero Formenti indicates the way: simplification and rapid reforms. The implementation of the new regulation of the Nautical Code in 2024 gave a first positive signal, but it is not enough. The Valorizzazione risorsa mare bill, which has just arrived in the Senate, could reverse the trend: reduction of administrative times (from 60 to 30 days), immediate validity of the technical certification as a provisional license, reform of contracts, opening to more commercial activities for units under lease and rental, anti-abusive charter rules and stop to the liability of owner-lessors.
Confindustria Nautica also asks for greater uniformity in controls: the summer blanket checks by the Guardia di Finanza in Sicily, Sardinia and Campania mainly hit regular rental companies, without really countering the black market. A recent joint circular from Mit–Ministry of Tourism clarifies roles and competencies and should reduce duplications and repeated inspections on the same operators.
For the sector, a world excellence of Made in Italy, the crux is now clear: without structural reforms and a competitive flag, industrial growth risks not translating into development for the country.
