The EU Commission’s envoy Pat Cox visited the Danish construction site of the Fehmarn connection on Wednesday.
As coordinator of the new transport corridor that will connect Scandinavia and the Mediterranean, the “TEN-T Scandinavian Mediterranean Corridor”, the former president of the EU Parliament visited to see the preliminary results of the EU’s considerable financial and strategic support.
Denmark sets the price
Managing Director of Femern A/S Henrik Vincentsen accepted, and he was greeted by Pat Cox with the question that is gradually preoccupying many:
– What will it cost to drive through the tunnel?
Henrik Vincentsen explained that when the Fehmarn connection was negotiated between Denmark and Germany, it was agreed that it is Denmark alone that bears the risk and profit. Thus, it is also Denmark that sets the price for driving through the tunnel.
Eurotunnel had a problem
Pat Cox warned that there was a problem on the Eurotunnel between France and England because a price had been fixed that followed the ferry prices.
– But the ferries had such a high profit margin at the time that they could easily lower the prices and still sail with a profit, and thus the connection did not become competitive, he warned.
– The technical price is set based on assumptions about, among other things, financing costs. It does not take into account the possibility of, for example, price differentiation, said Femern A/S’ managing director Henrik Vincentsen.
The minister decides
In the latest financial analysis for the project from November 2020, Femern A/S has stated a technical price of DKK 545 for passenger cars and DKK 2,319 for trucks.
In the end, it is a price that is set by the Minister of Transport when the tunnel is to open. And he will probably take the settlement parties along for advice before the price is decided, explained Henrik Vincentsen.
In the original calculations for the project, the ticket price was set at DKK 450. But the price rises and falls with inflation.
Competing on time
In 2014, then transport minister Magnus Heunicke (S) defended the price, which at that time had risen to DKK 484 precisely because of inflation.
– The prices with the ferries are very varied, but it is at the level we have set the prices. The difference here is that you are over in 10 minutes instead. And there is always room, the minister told Finans.dk at the time.
Scandlines sails on
The director of Femern A/S Henrik Vincentsen has noted that Scandlines intends to keep sailing – also when the tunnel is finished.
– They must assess that they have a business case that can run around even when the tunnel is finished, he said.
However, the director pointed out to the EU politician that the prices for both the Øresund and Great Belt connections have already been adjusted by the politicians.
