Under the motto "Cooperation empowers transformation," State Secretary Sepp Schellhorn (Austria) and Deputy Prime Minister Sabine Monauni (Liechtenstein) gave a positive assessment of their year in office. Governor Anton Mattle (Tyrol), who was in charge of the Austrian federal states, emphasised the role of EUSALP: "We are the advocates of the Alpine region and represent more than 80 million people."
Strategic focus: mobility, energy, and the circular economy
The newly adopted action plan focuses on the key transformation processes in the Alpine region that were already the focus of the co-presidency, as the mobility transition with sustainable transport design, the energy transition with joint development of a secure and renewable energy supply, and a circular economy with the transformation of the construction industry towards resource-efficient, recyclable construction and renovation.
State Secretary Schellhorn emphasised that the Alpine region has become a "laboratory for sustainable innovation and competitiveness" through concrete cooperation projects such as H2MA (expansion of infrastructure for green hydrogen mobility) and FutureBloc (circular economy project for recycling wall construction). With the action plan and the spatial development report that have been drawn up, "an important strategic foundation has been laid to make our Alpine home fit for the future."
Historical milestone and youth participation
The breakthrough of the Brenner Base Tunnel on September 18, 2025, was highlighted as a European milestone in the transport revolution. This event created the first continuous underground connection between Austria and Italy.
Another important topic was strengthening youth participation. The EUSALP Youth Council, consisting of 28 young representatives from the Alpine countries, is now an integral part of the EUSALP structures and brings new impetus to the work. As part of the annual forum, which attracted over 500 visitors, including around 200 schoolchildren, ski world champion and UN ambassador Felix Neureuther also spoke on the topic of "A livable Alpine region in 2035."
Successful cooperation and outlook
The close cooperation was also underlined by the Interreg project "Fit for Cooperation" (Fit4Co), which concluded its second edition in Innsbruck and proved to be a "successful think tank for well-structured, cross-border projects."
With the handover of the "Kolo Wheel" - a 5,200-year-old wheel symbolising movement and cooperation - the EUSALP chairmanship rotates to Bavaria. Bavarian Minister of State Eric Beißwenger announced his intention to build on this "strong foundation" in 2026 and lead the strategy into its second decade with "concrete results and a clear political profile."