On 20.03.2015, at Innsbruck, the joint statement on cross alpine corridors was signed. The Austria, Germany, France, Slovenia, Switzerland and Liechtenstein ministers of transport signed an European agreement for a cooperation between Member States, European Coordinators and Commission countries for a greater efficiency on cross alpine corridors projects. It will work to simplify procurement rules, standardization of procurement, procurement language, acceleration of processes and increase of efficiency. Other goals concern ownership, trust and knowledge, two-ways communication, exchange through appropriate governance, involvement of local population, exchange of best practices, like tunnel visits, and strong communication on European benefits. New freight transport systems will decrease road traffic and pollution. It is also important to optimize the scarce public resources and self-financing; to exploit all financial sources, including cross-financing, polluter pays; and to clarify the legal framework to attract private investors.

Among the major cross-border projects that have to be tackled in the coming decade are: the Brenner and Lyon-Turin railway base tunnels through the Alps, the rail-road crossing of the Fehmarn Strait in the Baltic Sea, the new railway line linking Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the new Seine-Scheldtinland waterway connection. There are other important cross-border projects such as Evora–Merida, Gent–Terneuzen, Trieste–Divaca, Karlsruhe–Basel, Gyor–Maribor, Brno–Wien–Bratislava–Gyor, Biarritz–Bergara, and Marktredwitz–Cheb.

On 19.03.2015 the ceremony took place for the beginning of work from the Austrian side of the main tunnel of the Brenner Base Tunnel project. Some 36 km of exploratory tunnels and 3.6 km of main tunnel from the Italian side have already been excavated. Click here for more on the Brenner Base Tunnel project, at/16 and it/103 for tunnelbuilder archive. 13/15.