Italy’s Court of Cassation has rejected Rome Cruise Terminal’s final challenge to passenger usage fees imposed at Civitavecchia, leaving the cruise terminal operator liable for the court costs, while the charges remain imposed on cruise passengers.
The court’s united sections upheld the treatment of the charges as payments for general-interest port services rather than taxes. Article 23 of Italy’s Constitution, which requires a statutory basis for imposed monetary obligations, therefore does not apply to the charging system.
Roma Cruise Terminal operates passenger facilities at Civitavecchia and is jointly owned by Costa Crociere and MSC Cruises. Royal Caribbean is the third partner. Civitavecchia is Italy’s busiest cruise port by passenger volume.
The judgment rejected the terminal operator’s argument that the Consiglio di Stato had failed to decide the Article 23 issue and had consequently exceeded its judicial powers. The Court of Cassation found that the administrative court had addressed the question by determining the nature and legal basis of the charges.
The Port System Authority of the Central-Northern Tyrrhenian Sea introduced the charges through decree No. 255/2017. They apply to cruise passengers disembarking in concession areas and are linked to general services associated with cruise traffic.
Roma Cruise Terminal and other cruise industry applicants challenged the decree. The Lazio Regional Administrative Court initially annulled the measure because the port authority had not obtained an opinion from its partnership body, although that opinion was not binding.
The authority later secured the opinion and adopted a revised measure confirming the charging system. The Lazio court rejected a subsequent challenge, and the Consiglio di Stato upheld those decisions in 2024.
The Consiglio di Stato found that general-interest services provided to port users could be supplied for payment and did not have to be funded entirely from the port authority’s budget. It identified Article 6, paragraph 4, of Law 84/1994 as the legal basis for imposing the charges.
The court also found that the port authority’s president had the power to issue the decree under Article 8 of the same law. The Court of Cassation’s dismissal closes the remaining jurisdictional challenge to that decision.
The port handled a record 3,556,559 cruise passengers in 2025, an increase of 2.8 per cent from 2024.
The total included 1,829,701 transit passengers and 1,726,858 passengers embarking or disembarking. Civitavecchia received 862 cruise ship calls during the year, compared with 841 in 2024.
The Port System Authority’s jurisdiction also covers Fiumicino and Gaeta. Its functions include maintaining common port areas and arranging paid general-interest services for port users.