Overview

• The Italian government issued definitive clearance for the €13.5 billion suspension bridge over the Strait of Messina while retaining the existing Eurolink contract to avoid fresh procurement delays.
• Transport Minister Matteo Salvini hailed the approval as a catalyst for an estimated €23 billion boost to national GDP via investment in new infrastructure.
• The plan includes 40 km of new roads and rail links, three railway stations in Messina and a metro network designed to serve around 400,000 residents between Sicily and Calabria.
• Officials project annual savings of 140,000 tonnes of CO₂ and cleaner marine conditions, supporting the government’s positioning of the bridge as green infrastructure.
• Despite final project sign-off, environmental NGOs, unions and local authorities are preparing further legal appeals and protests over ecological and social impacts.