Xinhua, Milan :
Europe has defined a transport policy aimed at connecting the continent from east to west and from north to south to stimulate much-needed growth, European Union (EU) transport ministers said at a two-day informal meeting that concluded here Wednesday.
“The European Union has realized that transport infrastructures are a fundamental pillar for economic growth, and finally there is a priority program,” Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi, who chaired the meeting in Italy, the country of the EU rotating presidency, told a press conference.
The plan, which moved its first steps years ago, has now focused on the construction of nine main corridors, instead of the 31 previously outlined, and has assured coordinated investment, Lupi said.
Earmarked EU contributions for the network amount to 26 billion euros (33.69 billion U.S. dollars), while additional funding from public and private sources are expected to cover investments estimated at 500 billion euros until 2020, he noted.
“The system is ready. The implementation will be not an easy process, but all works must be cross-border so to involve two or more member states,” European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas told the press conference.
Besides European co-financing, he stressed, member states will have to do their part as each project will have its own development model.
The corridors are divided into two north-south channels, three east-west channels and four diagonal ones. The Baltic Adriatic Corridor connects the Baltic with the Adriatic Sea, while the North Sea-Baltic Corridor links the ports of the Eastern coast of the Baltic with the North Sea. The Mediterranean
Corridor connects the Iberian Peninsula with the Hungarian-Ukrainian border.
The Orient-East Med Corridor links the maritime interfaces of the North, Baltic, Black and Mediterranean Sea, while the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor is a north-south axis crossing the Baltic Sea in Finland and Sweden towards Germany, the Alps and Italy.
The Rhine-Alpine Corridor connects the Northern Sea’s ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp with the Mediterranean basin in Genoa.
