The programme was approved by the EC under EU state aid rules. The scheme has a €40m annual budget and will run from 2021 to 2025. Under the initiative, companies will be compensated for up to 50% of the cost of installing new infrastructure such as sidings and 80% for the cost of new transhipment facilities.
The commission says it found the scheme beneficial to the environment and is in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal.
The Eurasian landbridge has contributed to increased sustainable connectivity between the EU and China during the decade of the 2010s. Felicitously, this market-driven development preceded, and also complemented, major foreign economic policy announcements by China and the EU and reinforces their goal of increased connectivity. The resulting connectivity is likely to survive any bilateral political debacles because the economic foundation is strong
