The board of directors again looked into the file on Friday. Composed of representatives of the different parties, he failed to decide the question.
The CA has “read the documents presented and the responses of management to the remarks made by the Council of State on the decision to designate CAF as a preferential tenderer for the AM30 acquisition market”, said the company in a press release.
The CA itself had requested an external legal opinion and an independent external technical analysis, “which validate the evaluations carried out by management”. An assessment that was favorable to the Spanish candidacy.
Still taking note of “additional motivation elements of the file”, the CA postpones its decision to the next meeting in July. A specific date must still be fixed.
Within the body, CD&V administrators are in favor of a decision that supports employment in Bruges and Charleroi, explains the Christian democratic deputy, Franky Demon. The Party Deputy Prime Minister, Vincent Van Peteghem, also insisted on this point on Friday in the restricted Council of Ministers.
Mr. Demon calls for other parties sitting on the board of directors (Vooruit, PS, Ecolo/Groen, MR, Open VLD and N-VA) to store behind the advice of his training. “For us, this is not just a technical question. These are hundreds of jobs; families are concerned and the future of our own industry is.”
For the Groen deputy, Staf Aerts, there is simply no question of negotiating with CAF. The company is active in the territories illegally occupied by Israel in Palestine, according to him.
In the union ranks, the possibility of retaining the Spanish company to the detriment of Alstom also raises strong fears. Such a choice would constitute the “blow of grace” for the Bruges site of Alstom, warn the representatives of the workers.
The Bruges site of Alstom currently assembles the M7 cars of the SNCB and takes care of the revision of locomotives. The contract for M7 cars comes to an end in April 2026.
