EU Queries Italy’s Sicily Bridge Plan Over Environmental Issues
(Bloomberg)-The 13.5 billion € (15.9 billion dollars) bridge that connects Sicily to the mainland of Sicily has been confronted with the European Union and the organizers press the government for more information on the environmental impact of the project.
A letter written by the EU’s executive arm seen by Bloomberg News this week says that biri other measures that need to help the Italian authorities as well as the need for explanation ”.
In addition, the commission wants to discuss the impact on animal habitats, compensation measures and issues related to water, air and noise.
Although the Commission is not likely to take action to prevent the project, any delay may contribute to the timeline to complete the bridge connecting Sicily and Calabria.
In his letter, the European Commission said that he received official complaints and information requests from multiple sides and that extra information would allow them to respond to them in the most appropriate way ”.
A European Commission spokesman confirmed that it was in contact with the Italian authorities about the Messina Bridge project reported to Brussels in June.
In August, the Italian government approved the project to build a 3.6 kilometer (2.2 miles) bridge project after decades of wrong beginnings. The plan is currently expected to give his opinion in the country’s auditors court until November at the latest.
After this happens, working on the surrounding infrastructure, such as railway and highway approaches, can begin, then the bridge itself can be built. The government aims to complete 2032 – a time schedule that the letter describes as “ambitious”.
The project faced some established groups from Italy’s political opposition and the bridge that the bridge would destroy the landscape and have significant environmental impacts, while it did not provide a real benefit to the long -delayed local economy in the north of the country. When the construction of the bridge began, hundreds of families would lose their property.
The bridge is a domestic project of the league’s Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.
The Ministry refrained from commenting. The Italian Ministry of Environment did not respond to the request for comments.
The Commission said that it was “in contact with the Italian authorities on the project. “All projects implemented in member states must comply with EU laws,” he said.
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