DIRITTO E POLITICA DEI TRASPORTI (ISSN 2612-5056), I/2019, p. 23 – 49
Abstract. Regulation and role of the jurisprudence in the sustainable development of domestic and European ports: a constantly evolving reality. The paper aims to analyze the importance of the principle of sustainable development in the transport sector, as it represents the fundamental parameter for the updating of policies aimed at creating a competitive and, at the same time, environmentally sustainable transport system. The analysis focuses, in particular, on the main environmental problems of the Italian port system and on the influence that the principle of sustainable development has had on transport policies adopted not only at national, but also at international and, above all, community level, as well as on the jurisprudential orientations of the Courts. This will lead to show how the legal principles that govern the protection of the environment and, in particular, the principle of sustainable development, have played a central role in the attempt to combine the needs of environmental protection with those of economic development related to the expansion of port traffic, also leading to a change in the paradigms of administrative action when the public power is exercised in this sector.