This paper analyses the EU regulatory framework governing scheduled coastal maritime passenger services, focusing on the design and implementation of public service obligations and public service contracts in maritime cabotage. This paper adopts a normative and comparative legal approach by outlining the relevant EU legal context and examining Croatia, Greece and Italy – selected for their pronounced island dependency and distinct governance arrangements. The analysis compares competent authorities, public service instruments, tendering logic and transparency requirements, and key parameters relevant to service continuity and public compensation. The findings confirm that a common EU baseline permits differentiated national solutions: Croatia relies on a centralised model with a specialised public body for tendering and contract supervision, Greece applies a tender-based public service obligations system administered by the competent ministry, and Italy operates within a multi-level framework in which regional contracting practice is complemented by stronger regulatory oversight, including methodological standards relevant to compensation and reasonable profit. It is concluded that safe and legally regulated connectivity between islands and the mainland is a prerequisite for sustainable island development.
Mišura et al. (Thu,) studied this question.