WRITTEN QUESTION E-0373/01

by Reinhold Messner (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(15 February 2001)

Subject: Extension of the concession granted to Autobrennero and new motorway investment

On 18 January of this year, Autobrennero SpA and ANAS (the Italian roads agency) signed an agreement to extend the motorway concession for a further 30 years. The motorway operating company's investment plan provides, in addition to the ITL 3 000 billion of profits set against tax and earmarked for the railway tunnel under the Brenner, for new roads accounting for almost ITL 1 000 billion (roughly 516 million), including the Tyrrhenian-Brenner link (the Tibre), on the subject of which I have already tabled questions to the Commission (P- 1535/99(1) and E- 2276/00(2)).

1. Does the Commission consider that it is permissible to justify such an extension without resorting to public tender on the grounds of a transfer of investment to the construction of new motorway infrastructures?

2. Does the Commission agree that accepting such a policy of transfers involving concession companies and public administrative authorities to promote new road infrastructures undermines the priority objective of redressing the balance between road and rail transport in the European Union?

3. Does the Commission not consider that the tunnel project, which I support, should be put out to public tender and not necessarily reserved for Autobrennero SpA, in order both to ensure the best available project is selected and to prevent the whole project of upgrading the railway line from depending on the extension of the Autobrennero concession?

4. Is the Commission aware that the existing Brenner railway line still has 25-30 % surplus capacity? Could the Commission ensure that this surplus capacity is swiftly allocated to rail service operators, including those in the private sector, to enable the policy of curbing the volume of heavy road traffic to make faster headway?

(1) OJ C 27 E, 29.1.2000, p. 117.

(2) OJ C 89 E, 20.3.2001, p. 173.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(23 April 2001)

The question the Honourable Member has raised relates to the more general issue of how motorway concessions are granted in the Member States of the European Union. The Commission asked for detailed information on this from all the Member States.

It is currently examining the information provided by the Italian authorities, along with that submitted by the other Member States, to enable it to take a consistent stance on all the motorway concessions in the Union.

At a meeting with the Italian authorities in Rome on 18 December 2000 and in a letter to them dated 14 February 2001, the Commission asked for the full information it requires for an assessment of whether the extension of the motorway concession granted to Autostrada del Brennero S.p.A. is compatible with Community legislation on public procurement. In the letter referred to above, the Commission also raised the matter of the possible cofinancing by Autostrada del Brennero S.p.A. of the construction of the base tunnel for the Brenner railway, as mentioned by the Honourable Member. If examination of this information indicates that the procedures followed are possibly incompatible with Community legislation, the Commission will not fail to draw the appropriate conclusions.

The Commission shares the Honourable Member's view that, if the public authorities concerned decided to have the base tunnel project carried out by a public-private partnership, a call for tenders complying with Community legislation would be required. It is pleased that the European Economic Interest Grouping Brenner base tunnel

is going to explore the potential of this approach in the coming months; the governments concerned and the Commission are lending it their specific, active support. As far as the Commission knows, the Brenner tunnel project is not earmarked for Autobrennero, especially since the amount of profit would not cover all the investment needed.

According to the Commission's information, the Brenner railway currently has unused capacity at certain times.

The Verona-Munich rail link via the Brenner tunnel is an integral part of the trans-European rail freight network defined in Directive 91/440/EC amended. Any railway undertaking which is licensed in one of the Union countries will thus be granted access to this line on equitable, non-discriminatory conditions as from 2003, in order to provide international freight services. On that date, the whole of the line's capacity will be reallocated among all the railway operators applying for access.

The new directive on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure(1), provides for infrastructure managers to cooperate on the allocation of international capacity. As from that date, Italian, Austrian and German rail infrastructure managers will therefore have to coordinate their applications for capacity on the Brenner axis, to ensure optimum use of the line. The Commission takes the view that, on this line as on the whole of the European network, improved capacity management and the opening up of access to all operators will enable rail transport to play a more important role compared with road transport.

Regarding the environment, the Commission has recommende(2) the signature of the transport protocol of the Alpine Convention. This protocol aims, inter alia, at ensuring sustainable mobility in the Alps and at transferring transport from road to rail, and in Art. 11 the contracting parties agree to abstain from the construction of major new road infrastructure for trans-Alpine traffic.

(1) OJ L 75, 15.3.2001.

(2) COM(2001) 18 final.