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(2004/C 33 E/094)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0977/03

by Carles-Alfred Gasòliba i Böhm (ELDR) to the Commission

(27 March 2003)

Subject:   Delay of the Figueres-Perpignan high-speed rail link

The Commission has recently devoted considerably energy to the basic issues of liberalising the rail sector and revitalising the use of rail transport. Directive 2001/12/EC (1) is designed, inter alia, to ensure further progress towards an internal rail transport market throughout the EU.

In September 2001, the Commission published its White Paper on Transport, in which it stresses the need to revitalise the use of trains as a key means of re-establishing the balance between the various modes of transport. Proposals deriving from the White Paper comprise a package of five legislative measures presented on 23 January 2002, designed to create an integrated railway area within Europe, in both technical and legal terms.

The French Government has just announced that the international Figueres to Perpignan section of the Franco-Spanish high-speed rail link will be ready only in 2007 or 2008, instead of 2005, as originally planned and for which dates the Spanish Government has given assurances that it will be ready for the link.

Does the Commission not believe that the delay announced by the French Government runs counter to the Commission's wish to improve the railway network, as expressed in its White Paper on Transport?

Does the Commission intend to take action in respect of the French Government's decision, in order to ensure that the link comes into service by the original date, in keeping with the Commission's own proposals?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(2 June 2003)

The Commission can but deprecate the delays in bringing the international section on line. It has repeatedly decried this situation affecting many trans-European transport network projects, pointing out the negative impact on EU competitiveness in the long term (2). The delays on the Perpignan-Figueras section, however, are attributable in the main to problems in setting up the concession for this international section. The Franco-Spanish Intergovernmental Commission announced that the negotiations between the relevant national authorities and Euroferro, the preferred bidder, had been unproductive, since it proved impossible to come to an agreement, particularly regarding risk sharing between the public and private sectors. The French and Spanish authorities plan to introduce a simplified selection procedure very shortly so that a concession-holder can be ratified by the end of 2003.

Even though setting up the public-private partnership has caused some delays, the Commission can only applaud the French and Spanish authorities' decision to find an innovative funding solution, which it will support with Community aid for the international section up to the maximum contribution authorised under the current TEN Financial Regulation, i.e. 10 % of the total cost of the project.

Furthermore, on 23 April 2003, the Commission adopted a communication on initiating innovative funding solutions for the trans-European transport network, encouraging public-private partnerships in particular.

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(1)OJ L 75, 15.3.2001, p. 1.

(2)  Proposal to amend Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks, OJ C 75, 26.3.2002.

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