AGI – It was a fiery Council of Ministers that lasted about six hours and ended at 5.30 in the morning. At the end of the meeting, the Benettons would have accepted all the conditions of the government: the MIT and the MEF now have the mandate to define in detail the agreement that provides the gradual release of Atlantia from Autostrade and the entrance of Cdp. The government will definitively renounce the withdrawal of the concession to Aspi only after the transaction is completed, reads the press release issued by Palazzo Chigi. “The Council of Ministers has decided to start the procedure foreseen by the law for the formal definition of the transaction, it being understood that the renunciation of the revocation can only take place if the settlement agreement is completed” reads the document.
Autostrade per l’Italia’s new proposal brought to the table by Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri was at the center of the discussion and caused the CDM to be suspended for almost an hour during the night. The owner of via XX Settembre in fact together with the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Paola De Micheli presented the proposal to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
The separate discussion would have angered the head of agriculture, Teresa Bellanova, who expressed irritation at the method used. The landing point is what it expects an extension over time of Atlantia from Aspi within a year, the entry of Cdp and the listing of the company on the Stock Exchange.
The desire to close on the file had already emerged since yesterday evening. There ‘line of firmness’ of the Prime Minister emerged from the beginning: either Aspi accepts the conditions set by the government or it will be revoked, the aut aut leaked from the government headquarters shortly after the start of the meeting, with Italia viva and Pd who have maintained its position on the need to avoid revocation of concessions.
The turning point came just before dawn. Mit, Mef and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti have had the mandate to define the details of the transaction that must begin within the month.
In the long night the Council of Ministers also gave the go-ahead on the date of the referendum on the cutting of parliamentarians and of supplementary elections for Parliament: it will be voted on 20 and 21 September. Prime Minister Conte and Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, have also signed the new Dpcm for the extension of some anti-Coronavirus measures until July 31st
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