WRITTEN QUESTION E-0373/01 by Reinhold Messner (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Extension of the concession granted to Autobrennero and new motorway investment.
Date: 2001-02-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Commission, Italy, application of EU law, award of contract, engineering structure, exchange of information, motorway, public contract, service concession

C 235 E/192

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.8.2001

(2001/C 235 E/225)

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(cid:146)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)).

Does the Commission consider that it is permissible to justify such an extension without resorting to
to the construction of new motorway

1.
public tender on the grounds of a transfer of
infrastructures?

investment

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?

Does the Commission not consider that the tunnel project, which I support, should be put out to
3.
public tender and not necessarily (cid:145)reserved(cid:146) 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 (cid:145)Autostrada del Brennero S.p.A.(cid:146) 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 (cid:145)Autostrada del Brennero S.p.A.(cid:146) of the construction of the base
tunnel
this
information indicates that the procedures followed are possibly incompatible with Community legislation,
the Commission will not fail to draw the appropriate conclusions.

for the Brenner railway, as mentioned by the Honourable Member.

If examination of

The Commission shares the Honourable Member(cid:146)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
this approach in the coming months;
(cid:145)Brenner base tunnel(cid:146)

is going to explore the potential of

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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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(cid:146)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(cid:146)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.

(2001/C 235 E/226)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0376/01

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(15 February 2001)

Subject: BSE

The recent uproar over (cid:145)mad cow disease(cid:146) has caused serious misgivings about the application of purely
commercial criteria to livestock farming, an attitude which has led to the current crisis in the production
sector while also placing the emphasis on certain high-yield breeds of cattle at the expense of other,
traditional breeds.

This attitude, in addition to having proved to be a danger to health, has jeopardised, and to some extent
destroyed, Europe(cid:146)s extraordinarily extensive legacy of biodiversity. This is particularly important
in
mountainous regions, where the presence of traditional
local breeds is linked to long-standing Alpine
farming practices which are beneficial in terms of conservation and result in very high-quality milk and
cheese products, often designated as being of protected origin.

In view of the foregoing, has the Commission taken any action in the past to protect these traditional
breeds of cattle? Does the Commission agree that it would be useful in future, in the context of new
legislation, to devise suitable policies to enable such breeds to be preserved and put to the best possible
use?