Europe

With its population of less than half a million people, the Mediterranean island nation of Malta may seem like an unusual place for the subject of an article about infrastructure development. But Malta is also home to the fastest growing population in Europe and the EU’s third fastest growing economy. The growth of both metrics calls for a long-term infrastructure plan and capital investment to deliver it.

As a landlocked country in the centre of Europe, the Czech Republic has long looked to rail as a means of trade with its neighbours. During the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the country - then known as Bohemia - was responsible for developing first public horse-drawn railway in continental Europe (being built during 1827 – 1832), running gradually between České Budějovice in the southern Bohemia and Linz in Austria.

Few episodes have struck home the importance of ports quite like the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Even as businesses of all manner have closed shop because of government regulation, certain organizations, among them ports, have remained open throughout - underlining their importance to the survival of economies. One such port is the Port of Algeciras in the Bay of Gibraltar - Europe’s closest port to Africa.

The European Union has long seen energy security as being a core central tenet of the grander European project. For this to become a reality, countries within the bloc need to engage in cross-border cooperation and inter-connections to ensure that energy can flow across borders without restriction. For these reasons, EUGAL - the European gas pipeline - is fundamental to the future prosperity of the EU.

The Covid 19 pandemic brought the world to a virtual standstill in 2020. However, for companies like EYDAP S.A, the Greek water supply and Sewerage Company, grinding is never an option. In recognizing its own importance to Greek society, the company not only continued to deliver on its mandate, but played a central role in ensuring that Greece and its people could overcome the hardships, human and economic, brought by the pandemic.

With its 6,000 islands and terrain which is 80% mountainous, Greece presents obvious challenges for energy transmission. Despite these challenges, the country has long provided a stable electricity supply to 100% of the population. For the past two decades, the transmission of the country’s electricity has been the mandate of ADMIE, the operator of the Hellenic Electricity Transmission System.

At a time when many UK businesses are struggling amid the economic storm brought by the coronavirus epidemic, one small team in Manchester offers an optimistic outlook on the future. Offers365, founded by Seun Olabisi, is an affiliate marketing company with a staff of just four and a client list which would be the envy of most marketing firms with teams five times bigger.

                                     The Trans-National Gateway Connecting the Baltics and Europe 

Rail Baltica is a much needed European gate railway and an economic corridor of high importance to the European Union. When completed in 2026, it will pass through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, connecting Finland in the north with the rest of Europe in a way that it has never been possible before: for the first time, all the largest Baltic cities, seaports and airports will be connected through a continuous rail link.

                 “You may have the universe, if I may have Italy.”

                                                                                       Giuseppe Verdi

Few cities are European in the way that Brussels, the multilingual capital city of Belgium, is. This is reflected by the fact that, as the administrative capital of the EU, it is also known as ‘the capital city of the EU.’ This is where nearly all the important EU-level decisions are made on an ongoing basis - the beating heart of the European project.