Bayrou chooses Dominique Bussereau to chair the conference on infrastructure financing

"I asked Dominique Bussereau, based on his extensive and valuable experience, to be the coordinator" of this conference, which aims to reinvent a model for financing infrastructure (roads, bridges, railways and rivers), the maintenance of which currently poses budgetary difficulties.

"This is an issue France has been considering for a long time," François Bayrou stressed. "How can we ensure that the infrastructure, (...) the trains we need, can be financed?" he added.

Dominique Bussereau, 72, twice served as Secretary of State for Transport, first under Jacques Chirac between 2002 and 2004 and then under Nicolas Sarkozy between 2007 and 2010. He then chaired the Assembly of French Departments between 2015 and 2021.

Finding a way to finance infrastructure "is a problem that has been posed for more than 20 years (...) and which, for the future, will be absolutely crucial," insisted Mr. Bayrou.

The conference on mobility financing, which is to be launched in the spring by Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot, will take place in two parts, according to a press release from Matignon.

The first will concern the financing of the organizing authorities (agglomerations, regions) which finance transport services and the deployment of metropolitan regional express services (SERM).

The second "will focus on the overhaul of the transport infrastructure financing system" by considering the future of motorway concessions, which expire between 2031 and 2036, according to Matignon.

SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou often repeats that maintaining the rail network is the key to ensuring the reliability of this mode of transport in the years to come.

According to him, there is a shortage of one billion euros per year to maintain the network in good condition.

According to the Court of Auditors, the waterway network is in a "worrying" state and around one hundred million euros a year are lacking to ensure proper maintenance.

"This cumulative maintenance deficit is fueling a 'grey debt' estimated at 1,1 billion euros in 2023," the Court noted, referring to the additional costs due to the lack of maintenance.