2025 could mark the beginning of a new concession for the Italian A22 Brenner Motorway, after years of delays and discussions involving local stakeholders. On 31 December 2024, the Ministry of Transport announced the European tender for a new 50-year concession, which includes investments totalling €9.2 billion. The current operator, Autostrada del Brennero, which submitted an unsolicited project financing proposal now put to tender, retains the right of first refusal should other bids be received.
The proposal outlines a fully self-funded investment plan aimed at redefining mobility along the Brenner corridor, fostering sustainable development and improving infrastructure across the regions it traverses. Diego Cattoni, CEO of Autostrada del Brennero, highlighted the significant bureaucratic hurdles overcome to reach this milestone, attributing success to an “extraordinary team effort.”
The A22 project, connecting Verona to the Brenner Pass, was approved by ANAS on 25 January 1962, with the Verona-Modena section approved the following year. Construction of the motorway began in the 1960s, with phased openings to traffic between 1968 and 1975. Autostrada del Brennero has managed the A22 under a convention signed on 27 July 1999, approved by Interministerial Decree No. 601/Segr. Dicoter 2 on 21 December 1999, which entirely replaced the prior agreement of 21 November 1973.
The renewal of the concession has been fraught with disputes. In 2014, the Council of State annulled the tender for a new A22 concession, citing the failure to specify the additional works the operator would need to undertake alongside motorway management. This decision created uncertainty over the future of the concession and delayed infrastructure modernisation efforts. Another contentious issue concerns the windfall profits accrued by Autostrada del Brennero during the extension of the concession beyond its original expiry in 2014.
