Autobrennero, the tender starts again: applications by Wednesday 3 December
The invitation to tender had been suspended by the MIT until 30 November pending the ruling of the European Court of Justice on the right of first refusal
by Marco Morino
A new twist in the tender to award the 50-year concession of theA22 Modena-Brenner motorway (Autobrennero). The concession expired in 2014 and has been running under an extension since then. The current concession holder is the company Autostrada del Brennero Spa. A decree of the MIT (Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport), published on the tenders portal on Friday afternoon, 28 November, officially restarted the tender procedure, setting 12 noon on Wednesday 3 December as the deadline for submitting applications by parties interested in the A22 concession. The measure bears the signature of the Mit director general, Sergio Moschetti. The decree contains a number of important passages, bearing in mind that the risk of a resounding rejection by the European Court of Justice of the right of first refusal that the call for tenders reserves in favour of the promoter, i.e. the current concessionaire company, is hovering over the entire procedure. Autostrada del Brennero, in fact, has submitted to the MIT a project finance proposal mobilising about 10 billion in investments with the aim of obtaining the A22 concession again.
The right of first refusal
A step backwards. In June, the ministry had decided to suspend the tender until 30 November 2025 pending the EU Court's ruling on the sensitive issue of the right of first refusal. A pronouncement that has not yet arrived. At this point the MIT, although aware of the uncertainty that continues to weigh on the tender, has decided to break the deadlock and restart the procedure anyway.
The text of the decree reads: "Considering that the notice has taken into account the possibility that the European Union bodies may consider the right of pre-emption in project financing procedures to be incompatible with European Union law and that, therefore, the present procedure remains conditional on those decisions", it nevertheless considers "that it is not possible to postpone the present procedure any further, given the need to permanently identify the concessionary subject of the motorway section in question and therefore to have to restart the tender procedure".
Investments of 10 billion
What's more, huge investments are at stake (around 10 billion), intended to strengthen an axis that is fundamental for connections between Italy and Europe. Says Diego Cattoni, CEO of the Autostrada del Brennero company: 'Where there is mobility, there is development. Our proposal is aimed at transforming the Brenner motorway axis into Europe's first green corridor, to the benefit not only of the territories through which it passes, but also of the entire national economy, considering that a significant share of Italian exports passes through the Brenner".
Cattoni recalls that around 20 million inhabitants live in the four regions crossed by the A22 (Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Trentino-Alto Adige). Moreover, these are territories with a very high concentration of industry. Cattoni adds: 'The country needs these investments. Our proposal also includes the construction of the third lane'.
