CEO Ciucci: “This confirms the EU’s strategic role. The additional funding will make it possible to reduce the cost to the state and carry out market fundraisings in the future” 

Rome, 21 October 2024. Stretto di Messina and the European Commission’s Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) have signed a grant agreement relating to European co-financing of the detailed design costs for the Strait of Messina Bridge. This is a non-repayable grant of approximately €25 million, covering 50% of the detailed design costs relating to the project’s rail infrastructure.

The proposal submitted by Stretto di Messina in January 2024 for the Connecting Europe Facility for Transport (CEF-T 2023) call, was welcomed by CINEA as the Strait of Messina Bridge meets the EU Commission’s selection criteria of: “Priority and urgency, maturity, quality, impact and catalytic effect”. In particular, the European Commission confirmed that the project is of common interest, as it affects all the four objectives defined in the TEN-T corridor regulation, namely cohesion, efficiency, sustainability and increased user benefits. The Commission also deemed the design process to be very advanced, and the quality of the current design to be high. The positive socio-economic and environmental benefits of the project, as well as reductions in travel time, noise emissions and pollution, were among the parameters assessed. The project’s ability to increase accessibility and economic development in Calabria and Sicily through improved connections was also taken into account.

Participation in the CEF call for proposals was coordinated by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport which, via its Technical Mission department, acts as an associated partner of Stretto di Messina.

“Signature of the grant agreement,” said Stretto di Messina’s CEO, Pietro Ciucci, “together with the European Council’s recent inclusion of the bridge in the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor, confirms the project’s strategic role for Europe and paves the way for finding additional funding to cover its construction costs, with real prospects for cutting the cost to be borne by the state. Moreover, the direct intervention of the European Commission, which guarantees the transparency and oversight of the infrastructure’s design, construction and operation, may also open up potential for future market fundraisings”.