Christian Estrosi and Xavier Beck tear themselves apart on the future hopper at the exit of Monaco
The subject promised to be explosive. He was. This Thursday, during the Metropolitan Council, Xavier Beck, Mayor of Cap-d’Ail, and Christian Estrosi, President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, clashed over the thorny question of the works project at the exit from Monaco . For memory, it would be a question of creating a funnel (a single underground track) at the exit of the Rainier-III tunnel in the upward direction as well as widening the intersection of the so-called hospital roundabout and the exotic garden boulevard. Nothing new, the first studies date back to 2013. But no solution has been found.
Xavier Beck is fiercely opposed to the project. He did not mince his words during his speech preceding the vote. “I was very surprised to see these two deliberations on the agenda. I asked for this Thursday morning again at the conference of mayors [une réunion qui précède le conseil métropolitain, ndlr] their withdrawal. And to attack straight away the presentation of the rapporteur Joseph Segura, who argued that this work had to be carried out so that Monaco could then proceed to bring the Rainier-III tunnel up to standard. He repeatedly insisted that it was a security issue.
“No haggling”
Thus, Xavier Beck opened fire: “Contrary to what you say and which does not appear in the deliberations, we must stop highlighting the tunnel safety problem because it has nothing to do with it. By convention, it is up to the Principality to “It is the responsibility of bringing this work into conformity, this does not have to be conditional on the construction of the hopper and the enlargement of the hospital roundabout. There is no haggling to be had.”
The city councilor did not fail to recall that these works would induce “a loss of 35,000 euros per year linked to the removal of time-stamped parking spaces. I had proposed that the Principality compensate for the loss of revenue and parking, but I have not received any proposals.”
Xavier Beck is very clear: “I have been mayor for 27 years. For 25 years, we have maintained the best relations with the Principality. But for the past two years, it has been the Metropolis that manages and we have been pushed aside. I invoke the governance pact that we adopted on May 31, 2021: there is a chapter on the management of disagreements. As such, I ask you to withdraw these deliberations so that we can discuss these projects again.
Disagreement over criminal responsibility
Christian Estrosi, president of the Metropolis, opposed him an end of non-reception. And explain: “The debate has been going on for more than 10 years, everything has been tried. I have often pleaded in your favor to find other possible agreements with the Principality even when it did not seem justified to me but, in the present case, I do not can’t translate myself to my responsibilities.”
The elected official recalled for a long time the links uniting the community to Monaco and the solidarity which the neighboring state has often shown. He put forward another argument, that of the criminal liability of elected officials in the event of an accident, joined by an intervention by Marc Concas : “If we do not vote, this could result in our criminal liability in the event of the occurrence of a disaster”.
“It is better to plead cases that we know”retorted Xavier Beck, adding that “the tunnel is the responsibility of the Principality” and “if there was a danger to the life of others, the prefect would take measures immediately.”
“I’m at breaking point”
And Christian Estrosi to end the discussion:“We are all elected. There is a disagreement on the analysis of criminal responsibility. I am at the breaking point, what I want above all is that there is no accident.”
The metropolitan council finally ruled favorably on the two deliberations concerned. On a statement, however, a dozen abstentions. Xavier Beck and Christelle d’Intorni voted against, the latter explaining that she was speaking out more on form than on substance and that she wanted the mayor’s position to be respected in a case like that one