EU contribution for the projected road tunnel linking Val Tramontina (Pordenone, Italy) and Carnia (Udine, Italy)

16.10.2007

WRITTEN QUESTION P-5278/07
by Carlo Fatuzzo (PPE‑DE)
to the Council

The possibility of building a road tunnel to link Val Tramontina and neighbouring Carnia has been discussed for years in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

The tunnel would help to ensure that Val Tramontina, accessible from Carnia only in the five months of the year when the weather permits, was no longer cut off in winter.

Carnia, which is already served by roads, is at the centre of other major infrastructure projects such as the arterial route to Cadore, in the province of Belluno, and the links to nearby Austria.

Building the Val Tramontina tunnel would undoubtedly help to regenerate the economy and tourism in the province of Pordenone, but there are material difficulties in terms of financing, since the works entailed are complex and particularly costly.

The local powers‑that‑be, as well as the regional authorities in Friuli Venezia Giulia, would welcome the involvement of the EU for the purpose of coordinating, and contributing financially to, the implementation stage of the project, which is at present blocked for want of funds.

Friuli Venezia Giulia will lie on the route of ‘Corridor V’ between Lisbon and Kiev, and the Carnia tunnel could provide an efficient link to the northern European countries, first and foremost Austria and Germany.

Does the Council intend to take action and determine whether it would in fact be feasible to build a tunnel between Val Tramontina and Carnia with a view to developing not only the interregional road network, but also the links between this part of Italy and neighbouring northern Italian areas?

In the light of the information previously compiled, does it believe that the EU could help to finance the works in question?

OJ C 191, 29/07/2008