24/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - MEP, Giacoma Santini (Forza Italia), has fiercely criticised the announcement of the nightly closure of part of the Brenner motorway in Austria. The President of the Tyrol region, Wendelin Weingartner, announced that the section of the motorway linking Werg Est to Hall would be closed during the night between 1 October and 31 March. Giacomo Santini explained in a question addressed to the Commission that this constituted a violation of the EU principle of free movement. The MEP declared in a press statement that the decision is even more shocking given that the Austrian Minister had not anticipated it during a Parliamentary hearing on Ecopoints (see EUROPE yesterday p 17). The closure decision is, nevertheless, expected to be confirmed after the resignation of Wendelin Weingartner announced this week.