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EU assesses Atlantia complaint against Italy in motorway row-letter

Published 29/09/2020, 19:27
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ROME (Reuters) - The European Commission is examining issues raised by Atlantia (MI:ATL) in a complaint against the Italian government over a long-running dispute about the group's motorway business Autostrade per l'Italia, Brussels said in a letter to Atlantia executives.

Earlier this month, Atlantia asked the Commission to intervene in the dispute over its motorway concession, accusing the Italian government of breaching EU law.

The Commission said in the letter, seen by Reuters, it was assessing the appropriate follow-up and was ready to meet Atlantia's top executives to share additional information regarding the complaint.

The EU Commission department involved was not immediately available for comment.

Rome has been threatening to strip Atlantia's motorway business of its concession since August 2018 when a motorway bridge operated by Autostrade collapsed in Genoa, killing 43 people.

The dispute appeared to have been resolved on July 14 when the government approved a plan for Atlantia to pull out of the Autostrade business to make room for state lender CDP.

But that plan is at risk of unravelling because of disagreements over its impact on minority shareholders in both Atlantia and Autostrade and the role of the state in the negotiation with CDP.

People close to the matter said Italy wants Atlantia to sign a formal commitment to sell Autostrade to CDP as a pre-condition for the government cancelling a procedure it had initiated to revoke Autostrade's concession.

Economist Stefano Micossi, who is also the director general of the association of Italian joint stock companies, said what was happening in Italy in terms of public intervention in large companies like Alitalia and steelmaker ILVA was a major concern in terms of the principles of a market economy.

"The Atlantia affair is becoming an extreme case," he said.

An Atlantia board meeting was underway on Tuesday to respond to an ultimatum from the government on Autostrade.

Rome is ready to revoke the toll road concession if Atlantia fails to agree on a deal with the state by Wednesday, a government source said on Sunday.

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