The Euro-Asian Transport Links (EATL) project started with Phase I (2002-07) as a joint undertaking between the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). In close cooperation with designated national focal points in the Euro-Asian region, the EATL project has identified main Euro-Asian road and rail routes for priority development and cooperation. An Expert Group established under the project proved to be a useful cooperation platform for the coordinated development of coherent Euro-Asian inland transport links. Results of this work are available in the Phase I EATL Study produced jointly by UNECE and UNESCAP.
UNECE coordinated Phase II of the EATL project (2008-13). The Expert Group identified nine rail and nine road corridors that link the two continents. There are 311 proposed projects by the participating countries of total cost of $215 billion. Administrative impediments to transport and trade were also identified. UNECE also created and made freely available these corridors in a Geographical Information System (GIS) application, now available in the International Transport Infrastructure Observatory. The Second EATL Ministerial Meeting (26 February 2013) endorsed the Phase II final report and supported to the next phase of the project in its Joint Declaration.
Phase III of the EATL project (2013-17), coordinated by the UNECE, aims at making the EATL overland links operational. It is focused at both coordination and facilitation of financing of infrastructural projects, as well as facilitating and removing physical and administrative bottlenecks when crossing borders in overland transport between Europe and Asia.
Participating countries include Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.