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EC's Valean: Feasibility study for Giurgiu-Ruse 2 bridge approved by Commission
The feasibility study for a new Giurgiu-Ruse bridge, submitted by Romania on the military mobility funds, has been approved, said European Commissioner Adina Valean, in Brussels, expressing her hope that the Romanian authorities will move quickly and apply for the effective financing of the works, and the final project will also have a railway section.
"The project for a feasibility study came relatively late, it was submitted by Romania on the military mobility funds. It was approved, but (the approval) is currently only for the feasibility study. I hope that things move as quickly as possible, to be able to apply for the actual financing of the works. At the moment it is submitted only as a road bridge, with an option for railway. I hope it will also be a bridge with railway, because it is on this North-South Corridor, which must be served by a modern crossing over the Danube," the European Transport Commissioner said on Tuesday.
She claims that, according to the latest European infrastructure maps adopted recently, Giurgiu-Ruse 2 should be a road and railway bridge.
"Besides, the Commission has invested hundreds of millions in the restoration of the Bucharest-Giurgiu railway. It is absolutely natural for this corridor to continue to the south, especially in the context of the new connectivity possibilities coming to the Aegean Sea from Greece, Bulgaria, so on the Corridor North-South, on which Romania is now. A new corridor that we have brought to Romania, the North-South Corridor - from the Baltic Sea, to the Aegean Sea, connecting to the Black Sea. So it is very important that this bridge be up to standards and the Commission is perfectly willing to invest in it," Adina Valean added.
The EU transport commissioner appreciates that Romania and Bulgaria have respected their obligation, which she claims she personally imposed, to submit a joint project on the Fast Danube 2 programme by the end of January.
"(...) Romania managed to propose this project, to submit it together with Bulgaria. I hope that it will be selected, so that it will already benefit from financing in this multiannual financial scheme. (...) I had this ambition to see this project submitted by Romania and Bulgaria by the end of my mandate, and it was, so to speak, the last call for projects until the end of January," the EU commissioner said.
She specified that the project was submitted with the support of the task force which is financed by the European Commission and which helps Romania and Bulgaria to write projects as competitive as possible "and which identified practical ways to overcome some obstacles, let's say, regarding data collected from previous projects".