Traffic on the Brenner Pass, Deputy Prime Minister Salvini launches the infringement request against Austria: “That corridor belongs to all of Europe”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Matteo Salvini will formalize the infringement procedure against Austria for the Brenner bans. The decision was taken and definitively communicated today, at the end of the Transport Council in Luxembourg: Italy has presented all its reasons, strongly supported by Germany and then by other countries such as the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romania, Holland, Bulgaria.

«We talked about the problem of pollution from private jets, when Austrian choices cause tens of kilometers of queues. An unsustainable situation. Treaties and free movement must apply to everyone. We all care about the environment but the Brenner corridor does not belong only to Austria, Germany or Italy but belongs to all of Europe», said the Minister of Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, who invited the Council to take note of the ‘economic and environmental unsustainability, asking for the intervention of the Commission’

«I thank Italy and Germany for their very constructive approach» on the situation at the Brenner Pass, «and also Austria for having tried, but I must say that continuing to discuss the same issue without moving an inch for the next ten years it is not a constructive approach», said the EU Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean, speaking in the public session of the Transport Council. “I encourage a spirit of cooperation” and “I invite everyone to review our compromise proposal,” Valean underlined, adding that the corridor concerns the entire European network.

«Brenner, finally the march is on: the position taken by Minister Salvini, today, at the summit with his EU colleagues in Luxembourg is important», said the president of Fai Conftrasporto-Confcommercio, Paolo Uggè, who underlines how «after years of chatter and empty letters a representative of the Italian government is committed to the issue of freedom of movement, to put an end to an illegitimate attitude of the Austrian government. In his speech today, our Minister of Transport and Vice-President of the Council highlighted the illegitimacy of behaviors that limit one of the principles on which the European Community is based,” he added.

“Fai-Conftrasporto is totally available to support the initiative taken, convinced that, if the community agreements and laws are not respected by all, there is a risk of undermining the foundations on which the European Union itself was established”, concludes the president of Do-Conftransport.