Bruno Le Maire wishes to strengthen the regulation of motorway concessions

"The model of public service delegation to private companies has demonstrated its effectiveness, but the condition is that the regulation be improved," said the minister before the Senate commission of inquiry into motorway concessions.

Mr. Le Maire, who was chief of staff to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin from 2006 to 2007, when the motorway companies were privatized, judged that this operation had been "successful".

"The state is not intended to manage highways," he said, believing that private managers were "better able, better equipped" for this. But he stressed that the State remains the owner of the infrastructure, having only sold its shares in the management companies.

He estimated that the state had obtained "the best price", with 14,8 billion euros in revenue.

According to the minister, the quality of service was there, thanks in particular to 22 billion euros of investments made by the concession companies. "We have one of the best motorway networks in the world," said Le Maire.

Recognizing that the prices were "expensive" for many users, he assured that they had not gone up and had "increased by following a rate close to that of inflation and in accordance with the rules provided for in the contracts" .

But he acknowledged that there was "room for improvement" on the regulation of concessions.

"The assumptions underlying the contracts did not provide for the very sharp drop in interest rates which allowed concessionaire companies to reduce their financial expenses by refinancing their debts on more favorable terms. This is a fundamental point", he said.

Mr. Le Maire judged "imperative for the next concessions to be able to reassess" this cost of financing "so that the concessionaire does not benefit from over-profitability".

He proposed in particular to reduce the duration of contracts to 15 years for infrastructures "which do not require massive investment in the years to come" and to introduce a "meeting clause every five years which makes it possible to reassess the rates of return on target investments ".

"I absolutely do not believe in the advisability of renationalising these highways", he said, estimating that it would have a "considerable cost for public finances, ranging between 45 and 50 billion euros" and "would be a very bad investment".