In accordance with the power of authority recognised in the executive of the Council of State, the minister of the Economy Padoa Schioppa and myself have sent a letter to ANAS. This letter communicates the negative decision of the Government in relation to the merger Autostrade-Abertis.
The merger has been judged not in conformity with the normative framework that forbids the participation as a shareholder of bodies that are in the situation of conflict of interests. This is particularly relevant to those who operate in the construction industry and in transport.
Furthermore, the operation would have produced changes to the framework of control, to the economic and financial structures, and to the patrimony as well as to the strategies of the group. There were possible effects on the stability of the company structure of the concessions, on the investment plans, on the qualitative standards and the safety and on the service provision, on the management of the infrastructure and on all the further aspects relevant to the interests of the public.
I have already expressed my perplexity about this merger many times, even on this site. I am thus very satisfied about the decision taken yesterday by the Council of Ministers. It is a decision, it must be remembered, that is above all, to protect Italian citizens.