Germany and Denmark Sign Declaration on Fixed Baltic LinkThe German and Danish transport ministers, Manfred Stolpe and Flemming Hansen, signed on 23rd June a declaration to pursue a fixed road and rail connection across the Fehmarn Strait in the Baltic Sea that would cut travel time between Hamburg, Germany's second-biggest city, and Copenhagen. The ministers agreed to examine by the first half of 2005 whether a bridge, tunnel or both would be more suitable to link the German port of Puttgarden and Rodbyhavn in Denmark. Environmental and financing issues also have to be resolved before a final agreement. The project would enable passengers to avoid a 45-minute ferry trip on the 330 km journey between Hamburg and Copenhagen. Ferries would remain in operation even after the completion of the fixed link. The link between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland was proposed as early as the 1930s but plans have been scrapped several times because of lack of financing.A fifth of the costs of the project, which would allow faster shipping of people and goods between Scandinavia and countries such as Italy, may be shouldered by the European Union. The project is a priority project included in the trans-European transport network list. A bridge would cost EUR4 billion but the price of a tunnel is unknown. Germany and Denmark want the private sector to finance the project and would offer investors state guarantees. Both sides will discuss whether start-up financing by the public sector may be necessary. Visit www.trm.dk/sw544.asp, www.trm.dk/sw175.asp and www.femer.dk/femer/default.htm 27/04.