Second Mont Blanc tunnel tube essential says Bonomi – English

(ANSA) – ROME, NOV 21 – Construction of a second tube for the
Mont Blanc road tunnel linking Italy and France beneath the Alps
is fundamental to avoid loss of gross domestic product (GDP) and
jobs, Confindustria President Carlo Bonomi said on Tuesday.

   
“The numbers have spoken clearly, we cannot watch helplessly as
we lose GDP, as we lose jobs in our territories,” Bonomi told
the conference ‘The tunnel factor. The fragility of connections
between Italy and Europe’ in Courmayeur.

   
The leader of Italy’s largest industrial association also said
it is not an issue only for Val d’Aosta, the northwestern region
at the mouth of the Mont Blanc tunnel on the Italian side.

   
“It will affect Valle d’Aosta in a significant way, but this is
a national issue, for businesses in Piedmont, Lombardy, the
whole of Italy,” insisted Bonomi.

   
The Confindustria chief said that following the planned
interventions at the Fréjus tunnel, the Tende Tunnel and the
Great St Bernard tunnel, in 2029 the Mont Blanc tunnel will be
the only single-bore tunnel crossing the Alps between Italy and
France.

   
“This is not possible,” he said.

   
“According to Istat data, Italy’s global import-export in 2022
totalled 467 million tonnes,” said Bonomi.

   
Of this, he continued, “43%, worth almost 670 billion euro, is
exchanged with Europe and almost half of it passes through the
Alps”.

   
“It is therefore clear how strategic the passage of goods
through the Alpine passes is,” said Bonomi.

   
The project to double the Mont Blanc tunnel returned to the fore
in early September after the partial closure of the Fréjus
tunnel linking Piedmont to the French region of Savoy further
south due to a landslide on the French side led to a decision to
postpone planned structural interventions by a year in order to
avoid excessive disruptions.

   
The project is strongly supported by Alpine communities in the
northwest but there has been resistance from France.

   
“We will try to convince the French, who still do not seem to be
in favour,” said Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio
Tajani ahead of a meeting of the cross-border on October 31 in
Turin.

   
“We are working in the interests of goods carriers, tourists and
businesses,” he added. (ANSA).