L 132/18 Official Journal of the European Union 22.5.2008 (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is not obligatory) DECISIONS COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 30 April 2008 exempting express and courier services in Italy from the application of Directive 2004/17 [EC of the European Parliament and of the Council coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors (notified under document number C(2008) 1642) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2008/383[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors (), and in particular Article 30(4) and (6) thereof, Having regard to the request submitted by Italy by e-mail of 17 January 2008, After consulting the Advisory Committee for Public Contracts, Whereas: I. FACTS (1) On 17 January 2008, Italy transmitted a request pursuant to Article 30(4) of Directive 2004/17/EC to the Commission by e-mail. The Commission requested addi- tional information by e-mail of 6 February 2008, which () O] L 134, 30.4.2004, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 213/2008 (O] L 74, 15.3.2008, p.- 1). was transmitted by the Italian authorities by e-mail of 20 February 2008. The request submitted by Italy on behalf of Gruppo Poste Italiane SpA (hereinafter referred to as Poste Italiane)) concerns express and courier services, domestic and international, in Italy. The request is accompanied by the conclusions of the independent national authority, Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (the Italian Competition Authority), that the conditions for the applicability of Article 30(1) of Directive 2004/17/EC would be met. II. LEGAL FRAMEWORK Article 30 of Directive 2004/17/EC provides that contracts intended to enable the performance of one of the activities to which Directive 2004/17/EC applies shall not be subject to that Directive if, in the Member State in which it is carried out, the activity is directly exposed to competition on markets to which access is not restricted. Direct exposure to competition is assessed on the basis of objective criteria, taking account of the specific charac- teristics of the sector concerned. Access is deemed to be unrestricted if the Member State has implemented and applied the relevant Community legislation opening a given sector or a part of it.