I. Introduction The judgment handed down by the Court of Justice (“the Court”) in the “Fallimento Traghetti del Mediterraneo/ Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri”,1 makes the latest development of the lengthy judicial debate between Traghetti del Mediterraneo (TDM), on the one hand, and Tirrenia as well as the Italian Republic, on the other, in relation to the compensation for public service obligations granted to Tirrenia from 1976 to 1980 on the