‘Government considers new mega concession for all Tagus crossings in Lisbon, but studies on Algés-Trafaria are still pending’ (with José Luís Moreira da Silva)

José Luís Moreira da Silva, a specialist in Public Law and Partner at SRS Legal, believes that proceeding with a tender only after the environmental assessment has been completed is the ‘desirable solution’, not least because unforeseen obstacles and costs may arise at this stage.
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However, the lawyer admits that the Government can create a special regime through a decree-law that overrides these limitations, but ‘it has to take the risk and justify it’. José Luís Moreira da Silva warns that this option would be a ‘great risk for the State’, recalling the case of Liscont. The expansion of the Alcântara container terminal was contracted in 2008 with the operator (at the time Mota-Engil) in a contract that extended the concession until 2042. The project failed its environmental assessment in 2011 when Parliament had already rejected the bill that had extended the concession without a tender, creating a legal impasse that took years to resolve.