Today, while a dispute over the legality of the environmental permit authorising work on the A69 motorway between Castres and Toulouse is in the process of being heard by the Toulouse Administrative Court of Appeal, the Conseil d’État ruled on a separate case focusing only on the appeal against the clause setting the duration of the concession for the motorway. Following an appeal by three organisations, the Conseil d’État ruled that their request to annul the clause is inadmissible.
Three organisations asked the Conseil d’État to annul the French State’s refusal to repeal article 29 of the concession agreement between the State and ATOSCA for the A69 motorway, relating to the term of the agreement.
The judge ruled that the appeals for misuse of power filed by the three organisations were inadmissible.
In this decision, the Conseil d’État did not rule on the legality of the duration of the concession for the A69. While a third party to a concession contract can request the annulment of regulatory clauses, particularly those relating to the organisation of public services, it cannot request the annulment of clauses that are merely contractual in nature, such as those solely governing relations between the grantor of the concession and the grantee. For example, the clause on the duration of the contractual relationship does not relate to the organisation of public services. It is contractual in nature, meaning that third parties, such as the applicant organisations in this case, are not entitled to request its annulment.
Read the decision (in French)