Milan, 16/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 16 September in Milan, on the initiative of the Italian Presidency of the Council of the EU, transport ministers began their informal working meeting with a working lunch on urban transport.
The mayors of Milan, Barcelona and Leipzig took part in this meeting in an effort to establish cities' expectations at a European level. Maurizio Lupi, Italian Minister for Transport, informed the press that the European Union and cities share the same challenges. He said that these include reducing emissions, noise pollution and protecting vulnerable users. He also said that these challenges had to be tackled together at European level.
Lupi also pointed out that the nine corridors making up the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) sought to link up the European metropolitan cities, particualrly over the “last miles”, through different modes of transport.
Both the European mayors and Italian minister highlighted the importance of the digital revolution in cities, particularly as a means of facilitating transport through mobile applications.
Infrastructure funding. In the late afternoon, Lupi began the debate on infrastructure governance and funding, which will continue during the day on Wednesday 17 September. He highlighted that this ministerial reflection extended the one informally begun by European finance ministers in Milan on 11-12 September, on ways of stimulating the investment needed in Europe to restore growth, particularly by means of innovative instruments.
Lupi also noted that transport infrastructure was expected to be a pillar in the project put forward by Jean-Claude Juncker, the incoming president of the European Commission, which will include injecting €300 billion into the European economy over a three-year timeframe. (MD)