Mr. Fabrizio Palenzona

A message from the President

Several months have passed since my election as ASECAP President: during this time the Association intensively carried out its activities in the Community domain, by representing more and more a reference point, in Europe, for the Toll Motorways sector. I therefore wish to express my thanks to all those who constantly contribute, with their professionalism and competence, to help ASECAP in its delicate task of conciliating Concessionaires companies’ interest with citizens’ requirements and needs concerning Motorways network and sustainable mobility. 

During the last year ASECAP, mainly through its Permanent Committees, has been very active in examining the most relevant and living issues put forward by the EU Institutions with reference to the road transport sector, focusing in particular on the following subjects:

• the draft Directive on road infrastructure safety, about which ASECAP has recently organised, in cooperation with the commission TRAN Presidency, the workshop “A European Road to Increased Safety”, during which experts from ASECAP members have illustrated their experience in the field of road safety and have met the MEPs more involved in the legislative procedure following the presentation of the draft Directive;
• the study on the internalisation of external costs caused by transport sector: ASECAP is carrying out, mainly thanks to its Permanent Committees I (concessions and tolls) and II (environment and road safety), a deep analysis of the subject, in order to give its contribution to the European Commission, which is supposed to present very soon a methodology study for the calculation of the external costs, following the provisions of Directive 2006/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17May 2006 amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures;
• the analysis of the concessions’ system at Community level: waiting for a proposal, legislative or not, from the European Commission about concessions, ASECAP and its Permanent Committee I, in charge of tolls and concessions, are examining the issue, with the intention of drafting an ASECAP position on such a delicate matter as concessions contracts, that are often brought into question and not always respected at National level by the Governmental Institutions, as it was the case in Italy during the last two years;
• the development of Euro-regional projects and the launch of the EASYWAY programme: the ASECAP Permanent Committee III in charge of ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) and technology applications to the road transport sector, carried out a great work of analysis of the new Community programme EASYWAY, aimed at improving existing and future road infrastructure’s performances and efficiency, as well as at promoting interoperability, safety and reliability of the European road network through the optimization of the most innovative and up-to-dated technologies applied to the road transport.  

In the framework of these intense activities, I also wish to inform the readers that ASECAP, with the AISCAT support, organises the 9th of March 2008 an important International Summit in Venice: “A Motorway Network for Europe: market and conditions”, whose details you will find in the ASECAP web-site.

The main subject of the International Summit, which will be opened by the European Parliament’s Presidency and which will gather representatives of the EU and Italian Institutions, as well as the Motorways operators of those countries belonging to ASECAP, will be the financing of Trans-European Road Networks in the perspective of the sustainable mobility.

Wishing always to continue the fruitful and efficient cooperation amongst the ASECAP members and to further develop the high level of reliability that ASECAP has progressively gained in Europe during the last years, I wish you a pleasant navigation in the ASECAP web-site.

Fabrizio Palenzona
AISCAT and ASECAP President