I’m publishing an interview that I gave today to La Stampa.

ADP: Green light? If it’s a matter of a merger between 2 private companies, namely Autostrade and Abertis, the traffic lights are neither green nor red, the traffic lights are just not there.
What is different however is the discussion about the concession, as the Minister for Infrastructure, Antonio di Pietro, speaking on the telephone, explains.

LaStampa: Minister, between declarations and press releases there’s a bit of confusion. What is the situation today according to you?

ADP: If we refer to the declarations made by Prodi in Madrid, the President of the Council has simply repeated something that we have said from the beginning: there’s no obstacle to the operation, given that a government cannot put an obstacle in the path of a decision made by 2 private entities. They are free to do commercial and financial operations that they believe to be appropriate, and the government has no grounds to intervene. It can simply take note of the event.

LaStampa: The question of the concession, however…

ADP: If we are referring to the concession, understood as an administrative authorization, faced with the transformation to a different body, controlled by a different entity, to a new point of reference, the Council of State has made known that once a merger has happened there cannot be an automatic transfer.
The judges have in fact said very clearly that the Minister of Infrastructure, and the Minister of the Economy have the duty to carry out an evaluation regarding the legitimacy and the merits. As regards the legitimacy, the prohibition for construction companies to take part in the merger has been superceded by the decree that brought in a ceiling of 5% for them at the time that the administrators are nominated, but allowing them free to buy shares when and if they want to.

LaStampa: However the Minister Bonino in Brussels yesterday said even this obstacle will be removed.

ADP: For the moment the decree stands. It could be modified if Parliament so wishes or if the European Commission requests that if this positive modification that we have brought in to overcome the prohibition against construction companies should turn out to be insufficient.

LaStampa: And if even this threshold were to be removed?

ADP: For my Ministry, it would have absolutely no influence as the evaluation as regards the merits remains valid. For me this is not to be separated from the whole procedure and it remains in all its complexity and completeness that has to be examined. This includes the consideration of the interests of the State and whether the concession passes or not to a foreign entity.

LaStampa: Is this why you have told Anas that Autostrade could reformulate the request for authorization?

ADP: We did that the day following the approval of the decree that removed the prohibition to the presence of construction companies in the social capital of the new group.

LaStampa: Basically, it’s possible to say there is a green light to the merger but not to the transfer of the concession?

ADP: The green light to the merger was there from the beginning, as no-one could really place traffic lights there.
The traffic lights for the transfer of the concession, however, is there: I repeat, it’s necessary to do a thorough evaluation of the merits and the legitimacy. And we can’t take for granted that there won’t be other questions of legitimacy that could emerge. The partners must present a new application and according to what they propose to us or what they re-propose, we will evaluate the situation. I would like to point out that up until now, we have not received any proposal and thus it seems very strange to me that there is this presumption, this continuous pressure on the Ministry to concede a concession that has not been requested.

LaStampa: Have you always been convinced that all the concessions should have a thorough overhaul?

ADP: It’s not simply a question relating to Autostrade spa, but the issue relates to all 22 of the companies managing motorways. In fact we find ourselves with a situation that has shown everyone its limits and its irrationalities, because as it is currently formulated, the system does not guarantee the tax payer and it does not guarantee the consumer, the safety, the competition in the sector and the certainty of the investments. It does not even guarantee the transparency of the verification activity.
In fact, up until now, I haven’t managed to find a single control mechanism either inside the Ministry or inside Anas that relates to respecting the concession pacts.