5. 11. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities L 301/17 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 21 October 1997 pursuant to Article 90 (3) of the EC Treaty on the provisions of Italian ports legislation relating to employment (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (97/744/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 90 (3) thereof, Having given the Italian authorities, Associazione Nazio- nale Compagnie e Imprese Portuali (ANCIP), Compagnia Unica fra i Lavoratori delle Merci Varie del Porto di Genova (CULMY), Federazione Italiana Imprese di Servizi (Ausitra), the Comitato Nazionale degli Utenti e degli Operatori Portuali, Associazione degli operatori dei magazzini e deposito merci e delle imprese operanti nel settore della logistica (Assologistica) and Associazione degli operatori terminalisti (Assotop) the opportunity to make known their views concerning the objectives of the Commission of the provisions of Italian legislation relating to dock work and port operations, Whereas: 1. THE FACTS 1.1. Background (1)  In its judgment of 10 December 1991 in Case C-179/90 Convenzionali Porto di Genoa (‘Port of Genoa judgment), in reply to a reference for a preliminary ruling, the Court of Justice of the European Communities ruled that ‘Article 90, in conjunction with Articles 30, 48 and 86 of the Treaty, precludes rules of a Member State which confer on an undertaking established in that State the exclusive right to organize dock work and require it for that purpose to have recourse to a dock-work company formed exclusively of national workers’ ('). ()  Following that judgment, and finding that Italy had not amended its legislation, the Commission sent the Italian Government on 31 July 1992 a letter of formal notice under Article 90 (3) of the Treaty requesting it to state the measures it intended to take in this respect. (3)  Following the Commission’s letter, the Italian Government adopted, in succession, a decree-law, renewed eight times, law No 84 of 28 January 1994 on port reform, then a further decree-law which amends that law, was renewed some fifteen times and most recently on 21 October 1996, and was converted in Law No 647 on 23 December 1996. (49 On 7 May 1997 the Commission, taking the view that the Italian ports legislation, that is Law No 84/94, as amended by 647/96 (hereinafter ‘Law No 84/94’) continued to be incompatible with Community competition law, sent a further letter of formal notice to the Italian Government. The latter replied by letter of 7 July 1997. 1.2. Italian port legislation prior to Law No 84/94 (5)  This procedure concerns port handling operations in Italy. Port operations means the activities listed in Article 16 (1) of Law No 84/94, that is the (') [1991] ECR 1-5889.