EU seeks Italian response to blocked motorway deal

The EU is seeking “clarification” from the Italian government concerning its decision to block a cross-border merger.

Rome announced last week that the proposed link-up between Autostrade, which operates most of the country’s motorways, and its Spanish counterpart Abertis was not acceptable.

ACS, the world’s third-largest builder, is the main shareholder in Abertis, but under the terms of its 1999 privatisation agreement construction companies cannot hold shares in Autostrade.

According to the FT Europe newspaper, Rome believes that the proposed deal would not be “in the public interest” and could lead to “instability in the Italian operations, reduce the level of investment in Italy and affect quality and safety standards”.

Both the old centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi and the new centre-left coalition led by former European commission president Romano Prodi have opposed the deal.

The two companies have been holding talks with Antonio Di Pietro, Italy’s infrastructure minister, for several months in a bid to win approval for the deal.

Both have also been in “pre-notification” talks with the EU competition authorities ahead of a formal request for merger authorisation expected in September.

A spokesman for the commission said on Monday that Rome “has an obligation” to notify Brussels of the reasons behind its decision to block the deal under EU merger rules.

And he stressed that the commission has the sole authority to approve or block cross-border mergers of this kind.

Such deals “should be cleared by the commission, on their merits, and should not be subject to national protectionism”, the commission spokesman said.

Di Pietro clearly believes that this is a matter of national interest, however, and will seek to persuade Brussels that the move is justified.

“There is no possibility of authorising this merger,” he told FT Europe, indicating that even if ACS were not a shareholder, Rome would oppose handing over control of its roads to a foreign operator.

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