Rome, 15 November 2023 – Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister, Matteo Salvini, met the Coordinator of the TEN-T Scan – Med Corridor, Pat Cox, and the CEO of Stretto di Messina, Pietro Ciucci, to take stock of the progress made on the Strait of Messina Bridge project, confirmed the Government’s commitment to construction of the bridge. “The allocation of funding to fully cover the costs of the bridge and its links is a concrete sign of our determination. The meeting with representatives from the European Union and the Coordinator of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, Pat Cox, confirm that, as well as being a national project, the bridge is part of a road and rail development package that will have a positive impact on the Italian and European transport network. It will be seen as a prime example of Italian engineering prowess”.

The Coordinator of the TEN-T Scan – Med Corridor, Pat Cox, said: “In the six months since our last meeting, I can see that significant progress has been made, with regard to the project, and also Stretto di Messina, the Company responsible for building the bridge. I would particularly like to emphasise the Company’s focus on revising the cost-benefit analysis and the environmental impact assessment.” Regarding the latter, Mr Cox pointed out the priority issue of decarbonisation, which must be applied to the entire supply chain, starting with construction. Mr Cox concluded: “I am very pleased with the attention given to the development of the bridge access network, as committed to by the Ministry of Infrastructure, which has allocated significant funding for investment in roads and railways in Calabria and Sicily.”

Stretto di Messina’s CEO, Pietro Ciucci, set out the significant progress made on the project in just the few months that have gone by since the Company’s restart: “We are continuing analysis of the designers’ report, together with the Project Management Consultant, the Parsons Transportation Group, and the Scientific Committee. A review of the environmental documents is nearing completion, together with the cost-benefit analysis, which has seen positive results after preliminary checks. Revision of the environmental documents, the traffic study, the business plan, including operating costs, and the sustainability report is also in progress. The seismic-tectonic framework of the area around the Strait has been updated to 2023.”