2023-07-06 19:30:00
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Federal Councilor Albert Rösti has signed an agreement on secure gas supply in Italy.
Italy and Switzerland want to protect themselves in the event of gas supply bottlenecks. “We were able to sign a very important agreement with Italy that Italy will help us out with gas for protected customers in the event of a shortage of gas from Germany,” said Federal Councilor Albert Rösti. “Of course, this is very important for the security of supply in Switzerland.”
Rösti’s trump card in the negotiations was the Swiss transit pipeline. In return, Switzerland will not withdraw any gas flowing through Switzerland to Italy in an emergency. “We made the concession that we would not then block the line capacities for Italy and then divert the gas ourselves.”
Legend: Italy currently receives gas by ship via four LNG terminals in northern Italy – and even more via the pipelines in Sicily and Puglia, which draw gas from Algeria, Libya and Azerbaijan. SRF
Switzerland wanted to conclude a solidarity agreement with Germany at the World Economic Forum in Davos (WEF) in January in order to help each other out with gas.
But Germany also wanted Italy to be there. “For the agreement with Switzerland, from a German perspective, it makes sense to negotiate a trilateral agreement with Italy, Switzerland and Germany,” said German Economics Minister Robert Habeck at the WEF at the time.
The agreement with Italy is now helping to make progress with Germany. “We are still in negotiations, also with Germany, to make it a little more binding,” says Rösti. “But at least five regional companies from Switzerland have also concluded a contract under private law with the gas companies in Italy. We secured it politically today. That’s very important.”
Switzerland and Italy are expanding rail infrastructure
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In addition to the gas supply, Switzerland and Italy also want to make progress with the expansion of the railway infrastructure. The two countries signed a corresponding declaration of intent. The Federal Department for the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (UVEK) informed Federal Councilor Rösti that this serves to further promote the shift of freight and passenger transport from road to rail. In addition, Rösti and the Italian Minister Matteo Salvini have agreed on simplifications in cross-border traffic with public transport.
By 2035, the two countries want to implement the necessary projects in both freight and passenger transport in order to make the offer attractive, as announced by Salvini’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. This is to ensure sufficient capacity. (sda)
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