Pedro Nuno Santos, Minister of Infrastructure, admitted this Tuesday, July 2, that the rescue of the EN125 concession could happen. But, first, the Government is still going to try a last resort before the Constitutional Court.
The government official spoke about this EN125 issue at the Commission on Economy, Innovation and Public Works that took place today.
According to the newspaper Observador, Pedro Nuno Santos admitted that the refusal of the Court of Auditors' visa created a "huge problem." "Giantish" even.
Cristóvão Norte, deputy of the PSD, also cited by the Observer, pointed out the risk of a “budget leak”, a scenario that the minister admitted. "We are facing a serious problem that will have the financial dimension of what I said," he acknowledged.
Also for this reason, the Government will try one last hypothesis: an appeal to the Constitutional Court (TC), and it is not certain that it will be accepted.
If not, there are two options for António Costa's executive (as Pedro Nuno Santos himself admitted): either redeem the concession or renegotiate with the private sector. The rescue means that it is the Government to move forward with the works.
The Algarve mayors, in a recent position, asked for the rescue of the concession, pointing to it as the only possible way for the requalification of the EN125, in Sotavento (between Faro and Vila Real de Santo António) finally move forward.
The redemption of the concession It's been on the table for a long time. When the TC issued the first decision, which made it impossible to renegotiate the contract between the State and the EN125 concessionaire, Rotas do Algarve Litoral (RAL) publicly announced that it would suspend "all operation and maintenance activities carried out by that sub-concessionaire provided for in the sub-concession contract".
At that time, IP assumed track management powers, namely surveillance and security maintenance. But it was already accepted that the rescue would be the option to follow.
The Citizenship Movement of Users on the EN125 – Sotavento, which has been fighting for the progress of the works, has also gone public to say that the rescue of the concession is a “matter of national interest”.
It is certain that this will always be a political decision, which will fall to the Government. But it would not be an unprecedented case. In 2013, the Government terminated the contract with the entity responsible for the Túnel do Marão project, and the intervention was handed over to IP, which has already completed it.
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