EU Says Sicily Link is Not a Bridge Too Far

Italian ministers were celebrating yesterday after the European parliament decided that a project to link Sicily to the mainland should qualify for EU funding.

Last month, environmental and financial concerns led MEPs to drop the project from a list of schemes qualifying for European funds. But, after intensive lobbying from Rome, it was reinserted by member states, and late on Wednesday the European parliament rejected an attempt by the Greens to block the deal. Plans envisage a suspension bridge across the Messina straits with a span of more than two miles (3.2km), held up by quarter mile high (400m) towers.

Despite fears about earthquakes and the bridge's proximity to an active volcano, Etna, the transport minister, Pietro Lunardi, declared it "an epoch-making project - the greatest of the 21st century".

The cost of the bridge, due for completion in 2015, is put at €5.6bn (about £3.7bn) - 10% of which will be available from EU taxpayers.