Source: European Parliament
1. On 13 November 2024 the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security issued the Environmental Impact Assessment ( EIA) for the project, with several recommendations. The Commission is currently in contact with the Italian authorities to assess how the provisions of EU law applicable to the present case, in particular Directive 2011/92/EU[1] on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment and Directive 92/43/EEC[2] on the conservation of natural habitats and species, are being implemented. Overall, it is the responsibility of the authorities and expert bodies in Italy to assess the technical feasibility of the project considering the regional environmental conditions.
2. The above assessment concerns also provisions on the consultation of the public. On the contrary, questions regarding expropriations are not in the scope of the directives.
3. The Commission adopted on 7 October 2024 its decision on the selection of projects following the 2023 calls for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)[3]. The decision includes EUR 24.75 million CEF funding (50% of the project’s total eligible costs) for a study on the executive design of the railway link between Calabria and Sicily and its connections with the existing network. Only once the final design documents are available cost-benefit considerations can be made. The project’s Grant Agreement between the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency and the beneficiary (Stretto di Messina S.P.A), entered into force on 10 October 2024. The beneficiary needs to ensure that all procurement rules and other applicable legislation are duly respected.
- [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32011L0092
- [2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:31992L0043
- [3] Commission Implementing Decision C(2024)6940 final of 7.10.2024: https://transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/744ad3f3-22e7-411f-9f04-65b20170a1c0_en?filename=C%282024%296940.pdf