The Italian Transport Regulation Authority (Autorità di Regolazione dei Trasporti – ART) was set up under article 37 of Decree-Law No 201 of 6 December 2011.
The Authority was established within the framework of the public utilities regulatory bodies pursuant to Law No 481 of 14 November 1995.
The Authority’s main mission is the economic regulation in the field of transport and access to related infrastructures and services. Further, ART is competent for defining the quality levels of transport services and the minimum content of the rights that may be claimed by users against infrastructure managers.
The Authority reports annually to the Parliament highlighting the state-of-the-art of the liberalization measures which have been already adopted and those which remain to be defined.
The Authority is an independent administrative authority and operates in full autonomy, in accordance with the EU legislation and in compliance with the subsidiarity principle and with the powers of regions and local authorities.
It operates as a collegial body composed of the President and two Commissioners designated by Decree of the President of the Republic, upon decision of the Council of Ministers and proposal of the competent Minister, and voted in by at least two-thirds of the members of the competent parliamentary committees. The President and the Commissioners have a seven-year non-renewable mandate.
The first Board of the Transport Regulation Authority was appointed by Decree of the President of the Republic of 9 August 2013.
The Authority was established on 17 September 2013 and is based in Turin at the “Lingotto” building in via Nizza 230.