Confetra presents 2024 manifesto to improve transport and logistics in Europe

Brussels – Confetra, the Italian General Confederation of Transport and Logistics, held an event today (April 17) to launch its Manifesto 2024. The document outlines the sector’s priorities and fragilities ahead of the European elections in June. A call for a more pragmatic and less idealistic European policy with a request from the Italian side to put more attention to the situation of the Alpine and Mediterranean crossings.

Carlo de Ruvo, President of Conferta, laid out the key principles for which the confederation is calling for action to improve the current transport situation. For de Ruvo, the first step is to read the issues related to logistics as a whole without separating them according to the means used because decisions made on one also affect the other. Confetra then brought to light the two main fragilities of the Italian system: the Alpine passes and the Mediterranean.

The logistics situation in the Alps is of particular concern: “Our goods pass through here, and Italian competitiveness depends on it,” warns de Ruvo. Moreover, for Confetra’s number one, “The crossings are fragile because they are often subject to blockages due to landslides, accidents, but also unilateral closures by individual countries.” Emblematic is the situation at the Brenner Pass, judged disastrous, both because of the blockades imposed by Austria and the state of the infrastructure. In this regard, de Ruvo condemns the government in Vienna, arguing that it is “unacceptable that a national ban should bring a European system of interchanges to its knees,” calling on future European policymakers to create an authority that can directly intervene on these issues.

For Confetra, the crossings issue is not only political but also concerns both routine and extraordinary maintenance. One example is the Gottardo, which is open in fits and starts, but the situation at the Frejus is even worse. Train circulation in the tunnel linking Italy to France is completely interrupted until the summer, forcing goods to take longer routes and thus lose competitiveness in the target markets.

If the situation in the Alps is challenging, Confetra has similar challenges in the Mediterranean. The blockage of the Suez Canal in 2021, when the ship Ever Given got stuck, and the recent Houti attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea have brought to light the system’s weaknesses. To overcome these problems, container ships prefer to circumnavigate Africa. For de Ruvo, however, the risk of the current situation is that “emergency choices become permanent, and we as a country have only to lose from this perspective.”

There are several sensitive issues on which European institutions will have to take action in the near future, also in view of the green transition. Infrastructure needs to be strengthened and improved, but for Confetra, the bridge over the Straidebate t is not fundamental: “It is a logistical measure like any other that allows us to connect Sicily to the continent. The important thing is that once a decision is made, we go ahead with it.”