Rome, 26 November 2025
This morning, Stretto di Messina’s CEO, Pietro Ciucci, gave evidence to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on “Combatting the disadvantages associated with insularity”. The Committee was set up to advance measures designed to remove such disadvantages in implementation of the constitutional principle set out in article 119, paragraph 6 of the Constitution: “The Republic recognises the distinctiveness of its islands and shall promote the necessary measures to eliminate the disadvantages associated with insularity”.

“As regards the Court of Auditors’ determinations,” said Mr. Ciucci when describing the project’s state of progress during the hearing, “the relevant Government bodies, with Stretto di Messina’s support, will decide how to proceed once the reasons for the Court’s refusal to register the CIPESS resolution and the III Addendum to the Concession Arrangement have been published. Once the Court has completed its audit of the CIPESS resolution, work on delivering the project can begin. We are confident that the Court will register the document concerned and are working towards this goal, in the conviction that we have acted in full compliance with general and specific Italian and European legislation relating to construction of the Strait of Messina Bridge.”

With regard to the purpose of the hearing, Ciucci noted that: “Completion of the bridge will open the way, in 2033, to a completely new situation that will enable us to overcome the difficulties caused by insularity for a region with 5 million inhabitants. As shown by a study conducted by Sicily Regional Authority, the current situation results in costs of approximately €6.5 billion a year, equal to 7.4% of the region’s GDP at 2018 present values. It will mark a historic change in quality of life, mobility and productivity. Open 365 days a year and 24 hours a day, without any disruption to traffic, it is the means to providing seamless road and rail transport, making the extension of high-speed rail services to Calabria and Sicilia sustainable.

The studies conducted show that the Bridge is the best response to demand for a more efficient and modern transport system connecting Sicily, Calabria and the rest of the mainland, cutting journey times by around an hour for road vehicles and by two or three hours for trains.

In this sense, the Bridge is a major local project that will bring improvements for the local area, whilst at the same time benefitting all of Italy and Europe. The Council of Europe has confirmed that the Strait of Messina Bridge will play a key role in the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor, reiterating its strategic importance to completion of the main north-south route serving Europe as a whole. There are currently only three gaps in the corridor: the Fehmarn Belt tunnel between Germany and Denmark, due to be completed in 2029; the Brenner Tunnel between Austria and Italy, to be completed in 2032; and the Strait of Messina Bridge, which as noted above is expected to open to traffic in 2033.”