2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B REGULATION (EC) No 1382/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE
COUNCIL
of 22 July 2003
on the granting of Community financial assistance to improve the environmental performance of
the freight transport system (Marco Polo Programme)
(OJ L 196, 2.8.2003, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1 Regulation (EC) No 788/2004 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 21 April 2004L 138 17 30.4.2004
▼B
REGULATION (EC) No 1382/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 22 July 2003
on the granting of Community financial assistance to improve the
environmental performance of the freight transport system (Marco
Polo Programme)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and
in particular Article 71(1) and Article 80(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social
Committee (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (3),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of
the Treaty (4),
Whereas:
(1) The European Council held at Göteborg on 15 and 16 June 2001
declared that shifting the balance between the modes of transport
is at the heart of the sustainable development strategy.
(2) If no decisive action is taken, total road freight transport in
Europe is set to grow by about 50 % by 2010. The effect would
be a growth of international road freight of about 12 billiontonne-kilometres per year.
(3) In its White Paper, ‘European transport policy for 2010: time todecide’, the Commission proposed to take measures whichshould make the market shares of the modes of transport return,by 2010, to their 1998 levels. This will prepare the ground for ashift of balance from 2010 onwards.
(4) It is necessary to establish a programme, hereinafter referred toas the ‘Marco Polo Programme’, or ‘the Programme’, to reduceroad congestion and to improve the environmental performance
of the freight transport system within the Community and to
enhance intermodality, thereby contributing to an efficient andsustainable transport system. To achieve this objective, theProgramme should support actions in the freight transport, logis-tics and other relevant markets. These actions should contributeto maintaining the distribution of freight between the various
modes of transport at 1998 levels by helping to shift the
expected aggregate increase in international road freight trafficto short sea shipping, rail and inland waterways or to a combina-tion of modes of transport in which road journeys are as short aspossible.
(5) The Marco Polo Programme will feature three types of action:firstly, modal shift actions, which should focus on shifting asmuch cargo as possible under current market conditions from
road to short sea shipping, rail and inland waterways; secondly,
catalyst actions, which should change the way non-road freighttransport is conducted in the Community; and thirdly, commonlearning actions, which should enhance knowledge in the freightlogistics sector and foster advanced methods and procedures ofcooperation in the freight market.2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ C 126 E, 28.5.2002, p. 354.
(2) OJ C 241, 7.10.2002, p. 37.
(3) OJ C 278, 14.11.2002, p. 15.
(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 24 September 2002 (not yet
published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 25 April
2003 (OJ C 153 E, 1.7.2003, p. 252) and Decision of the European Parlia-
ment of 3 July 2003 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
▼B
(6) Actions must involve the territory of at least two countries. If
these two countries are Member States or other countries partici-
pating in the Marco Polo Programme under the conditions laiddown in this Regulation, the Programme will re-imburse thecosts incurred by the participating undertakings within the limitslaid down in the Regulation.
(7) In order to reflect the European dimension of the actions, coop-eration should be encouraged between undertakings establishedin different countries, in the form of a consortium submitting anaction.
(8) Applicants should be able to submit new or, where appropriate,existing projects which best match current market needs.Suitable projects should not be discouraged by any over-rigiddefinition of allowable actions. In particular, the flexibility given
to the Commission, assisted by the Committee set up under
Article 12(1), for the selection of projects should enable projectswhich are efficient but under the minimum indicative subsidythreshold to be eligible for Community financial assistance.
(9) There may be cases in which the benefits of developing anexisting service may be at least equal in terms of additionalmodal shift, quality and environmental and viability advantagesto those of starting up a new service involving considerableexpense.
(10) To be transparent, objective and clearly delimited, aid for thelaunch of modal shift actions should be based on cost savingsfor society brought about by use of short sea shipping, rail andinland waterways, or a combination of modes of transport,
instead and in place of road transport alone. For this reason, the
Commission has set an indicative amount of financial assistanceof EUR 1 for each shift of 500 tonne-kilometres of road freight.
(11) Considering, on the one hand, the importance of the internalisa-
tion of external, particularly environmental, costs, acknowledged
both in the White Paper ‘European transport policy for 2010:time to decide’ and in the conclusions of the Göteborg EuropeanCouncil, and on the other hand, the speed at which the transportmarket is changing, it should be possible to take account offuture work on developing methods to internalise external costs,
regularly evaluate the development of external cost differentials
and propose any necessary adjustment to the indicative amountof financial assistance accordingly.
(12) The results of the catalyst and common learning actions of theProgramme should be adequately disseminated, in order to ascer-tain replication, publicity and transparency.
(13) During the selection procedure and during the lifetime of the
project, it is necessary to ensure that the project chosen makes
a real contribution to the common transport policy and does notcause unacceptable distortions of competition. The Commissionshould therefore evaluate the implementation of this Regulation.It should present, not later than 31 December 2006, an assess-ment report on the results of the Marco Polo Programme,
accompanied if necessary by a proposal for the amendment of
this Regulation.
(14) Since the objective of the Marco Polo Programme cannot besufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore,
by reason of the scope of the Programme, be better achieved at
Community level, the Community may adopt measures in accor-dance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 ofthe Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality,as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond
what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 3
▼B
(15) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regula-
tion should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision
1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures forthe exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commis-sion (
1).
(16) A financial reference amount, within the meaning of point 33 of
the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the
European Parliament, the Council and the Commission onbudgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary proce-dure is inserted in this Regulation for the entire duration of theProgramme, without the powers of the budgetary authority as
defined by the Treaty being affected thereby.
(17) In order to administer funding under this Regulation in the most
expedient and speedy way, this Regulation should enter intoforce as soon as possible after its adoption,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
OBJECTIVE, DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE
Article 1
Objective
This Regulation establishes a financing instrument, hereinafter referred
to as the ‘Marco Polo Programme’, or ‘the Programme’, the objectivebeing to reduce congestion, to improve the environmental performanceof the transport system and to enhance intermodal transport, therebycontributing to an efficient and sustainable transport system, for theperiod from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010 in order to achieve,
by the end of the Programme, a traffic shift of the expected yearly
aggregate increase of international road freight traffic, measured intonne-kilometres, to short sea shipping, rail and inland waterways orto a combination of modes of transport in which road journeys are asshort as possible.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) ‘action’ shall mean any project related to the logistics market,
executed by undertakings, which contributes to reducing congestionin the road freight transport system and/or to improving the envir-onmental performance of the transport system by optimisingtransport to and from intermodal transport chains, in the territories
of the Member States;
(b) ‘modal shift action’ shall mean any action directly and immediately
shifting freight from road to short sea shipping, rail, inland water-ways or a combination of modes of transport in which roadjourneys are as short as possible, without being a catalyst action;
(c) ‘catalyst action’ shall mean any innovative action aimed at over-
coming Community-relevant structural barriers in the market forfreight transport which impede the efficient functioning of themarkets, the competitiveness of short sea shipping, rail, or inlandwaterways, and/or the efficiency of transport chains making use of
these modes; for the purpose of this definition, ‘structural market
barrier’ shall mean any non-regulatory, factual and non-temporaryimpediment to the proper functioning of the freight transport chain;
(d) ‘common learning action’ shall mean any action aimed at
improving cooperation for structurally optimising working methods2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 4
(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
▼B
and procedures in the freight transport chain, taking into account
the requirements of logistics;
(e) ‘accompanying measure’ shall mean any measure which seeks to
prepare for or to support current or future actions, inter alia disse-
mination activities and project monitoring and evaluation, and thecollection and analysis of statistical data. Measures devoted to thecommercialisation of products, processes or services, marketingactivities and sales promotion are not ‘accompanying measures’;
(f) ‘preparatory measure’ shall mean any action in preparation for a
catalyst action, such as technical, operational or financial feasibilitystudies and equipment tests;
(g) ‘consortium’ shall mean any arrangement by which at least two
undertakings execute together and share the risk concerning an
action;
(h) ‘undertaking’ shall mean any entity engaged in an economic
activity, regardless of the legal status of the entity and the way inwhich it is financed;
(i) ‘ancillary’ shall mean necessary, but subordinate, to achieve the
goals of ‘modal shift actions’ or ‘catalyst actions’;
(j) ‘tonne-kilometre’ shall mean the transport of a tonne of freight, or
its volumetric equivalent, over a distance of one kilometre;
(k) ‘close third country’ shall mean any non-Member State of the
European Union or candidate country for accession to the EuropeanUnion with a common border with the European Union or with a
coastline on a closed or semi-closed sea neighbouring on the
European Union.
Article 3
Scope
1. The Marco Polo Programme shall cover modal shift actions, cata-
lyst actions and common learning actions:
(a) involving the territory of at least two Member States, or
(b) involving the territory of at least one Member State and the terri-
tory of a close third country.
2. Where an action involves the territory of a third country, costs
arising in the territory of that country shall not be covered by the
Programme, except in the circumstances mentioned in paragraphs 3and 4.
3. The Programme shall be open to participation by countries which
are candidates for accession. Participation will be governed by theconditions laid down in the Association Agreements with those coun-tries, and on the basis of the rules laid down in the decision of theAssociation Council for each country concerned.
4. The Programme shall also be open to participation by the EFTA
and EEA Member States on the basis of supplementary appropriations
in accordance with procedures to be agreed with those countries.
CHAPTER II
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS AND ACTIONS
Article 4
Eligible applicants
1. As a general rule, projects shall be submitted by a consortium of
two or more undertakings, established in at least two different MemberStates or in at least one Member State and one close third country.
2. Undertakings established outside the Community or outside one
of the participant countries referred to in Article 3(3) and (4) whichmay be associated with the project may under no circumstances receiveCommunity funding under the Programme.2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 5
▼B
Article 5
Modal shift action
1. Modal shift actions, including, where appropriate, the additional
modal shift brought about by the development of an existing service,
shall be eligible for funding under the Programme provided that thefollowing conditions are satisfied:
(a) the modal shift action is expected to lead to an actual, substantial,
measurable and sustainable modal shift of freight transport fromroad to short sea shipping, rail, inland waterways or a combination
of modes of transport in which road journeys are as short as
possible;
(b) according to a realistic business plan, the modal shift action will be
viable on its own after a maximum of 36 months of Community
funding;
(c) the modal shift action will not lead to distortions of competition in
the relevant markets, in particular between alternative modes oftransport to road transport alone or within each mode, to an extent
which damages the common interest;
(d) when the action requires reliance on services provided by third
parties not part of the consortium, the applicant submits proof of atransparent, objective and non-discriminatory procedure for selec-
tion of the relevant services.
2. Community financial assistance for modal shift actions shall be
limited to a maximum of 30 % of the total expenditure necessary toachieve the objectives of the action and incurred as a result of theaction. Such expenditure shall be eligible for Community financialassistance to the extent to which it relates directly to the implementa-
tion of the action. Ancillary infrastructure expenditure shall also be
eligible for Community financial assistance, as long as it remainsmarginal, up to a maximum of 30 %. Expenditure incurred on or afterthe date of the submission of an application under the selection proce-dure shall be eligible for Community financial assistance provided that
final approval for Community funding is given. A contribution towards
the costs of movable assets shall be contingent on the obligation to usesuch assets for the duration of the assistance, principally for the action,as defined by the subsidy agreement.
3. The Community financial assistance under paragraph 2 deter-
mined by the Commission on the basis of the tonne-kilometres shifted
from road to short sea shipping, rail, inland waterways or a combina-
tion of modes of transport in which road journeys are as short aspossible shall initially be set at EUR 1 for each shift of 500 tonne-kilo-metres of road freight. This indicative amount could be adjusted, inparticular, in accordance with the quality of the project or the realenvironmental benefit obtained.
In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(2), the
Commission may re-examine, from time to time as necessary, thedevelopments concerning the items on which this calculation is basedand, if necessary, adapt the amount of Community financial assistanceaccordingly.
4. Community financial assistance for modal shift actions shall be
granted on the basis of subsidy agreements. As a rule, the maximum
duration of these agreements shall be 38 months.
Community financial assistance shall not be renewable beyond the
stipulated maximum period of 38 months.
5. The minimum indicative subsidy threshold per modal shift action
shall be 250 million tonne-kilometres of modal shift or, in proportionto the indicative amount per euro of subsidy, EUR 500 000.2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 6
▼B
Article 6
Catalyst actions
1. Catalyst actions shall be eligible for funding under the
Programme provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) the catalyst action will achieve its objectives within a period of a
maximum of 48 months, and stay viable after that period, as fore-
cast by a realistic business plan;
(b) the catalyst action is innovative on a European level, in terms of
logistics, technology, methods, equipment, products or servicesrendered;
(c) the catalyst action is expected to lead to an actual, measurable and
sustainable modal shift from road to short sea shipping, rail, inlandwaterways, or a combination of modes of transport in which road
journeys are as short as possible. The catalyst action is expected
to lead to a reduction of congestion in road transport and not to ashift between short sea shipping, rail and inland waterways;
(d) the catalyst action proposes a realistic plan setting out the specific
stages by which it seeks to achieve its objectives and identifies theneed for Commission steering assistance;
(e) the catalyst action will not lead to distortions of competition in the
relevant markets, in particular between modes of transport alterna-
tive to road transport alone or within each mode, to an extent
which damages the common interest;
(f) when the action requires reliance on services provided by third
parties not part of the consortium, the applicant submits proof of atransparent, objective and non-discriminatory procedure for selec-tion of the relevant services.
2. In the framework of the objectives of the Commission White
Paper ‘European transport policy for 2010: time to decide’, catalystactions implementing new concepts, such as that of ‘motorways of the
seas’, deserve special attention.
Catalyst actions on the transport market should preferably use the
trans-European networks as defined in Decision No 1692/96/EC (
1), or
the pan-European transport corridors and areas.
3. The results and methods of catalyst actions shall be disseminated
in order to help achieve the objectives of this Regulation.
4. Community financial assistance for catalyst actions shall be
limited to a maximum of 35 % of the total expenditure necessary toachieve the objectives of the action and incurred as a result of the
action, including preparatory measures. Such expenditure shall be
eligible for Community financial assistance, to the extent to which itrelates directly to the implementation of the action. Expenditure forancillary measures related to infrastructure works needed to achievethe aims of the action shall also be eligible for Community financialassistance, as long as it remains marginal, up to a maximum of 35 %.
Expenditure incurred on or after the date of the submission of an appli-
cation under the selection procedure shall be eligible for Communityfinancial assistance provided that final approval for Communityfunding is given. A contribution towards the costs of movable assetsshall be contingent on the obligation to use such assets for the duration
of the assistance, principally for the action, as defined by the subsidy
agreement.
5. Community financial assistance for catalyst actions shall be
granted on the basis of subsidy agreements, with appropriate provisions
for steering and monitoring. As a rule, the maximum duration of theseagreements shall be 50 months.2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 7
(1) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996, p. 1. Decision as last amended by Decision No 1346/
2001/EC (OJ L 185, 6.7.2001, p. 1).
▼B
Community financial assistance shall not be renewable beyond the
stipulated maximum period of 50 months.
6. The political priority targets which will be taken into considera-
tion in the selection procedure for such actions shall be established in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(2).
The Commission, assisted by the Committee set up under Article 12(1),
may review the political priority targets from time to time.
7. The minimum indicative subsidy threshold per catalyst action
shall be EUR 1,5 million.
Article 7
Common learning actions
1. Common learning actions shall be eligible for funding under the
Programme provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) the action will lead to the improvement of commercial services in
the market and lasts for a maximum of 24 months;
(b) the action is innovative on a European level;
(c) the action will not lead to distortions of competition in the relevant
markets, in particular between modes of transport alternative toroad transport alone or within each mode, to an extent whichdamages the common interest;
(d) the common learning action proposes a realistic plan setting out the
specific stages by which it seeks to achieve its objectives and iden-tifies the need for Commission steering assistance.
2. The results and methods of common learning actions shall be
disseminated in order to help achieve the objectives of this Regulation.
3. Community financial assistance for common learning actions
shall be limited to a maximum of 50 % of the total expenditure neces-sary to achieve the objectives of the action and incurred as a result of
the action. Such expenditure shall be eligible for Community financial
assistance, to the extent to which it relates directly to the implementa-tion of the action. Expenditure incurred on or after the date of thesubmission of an application under the selection procedure shall beeligible for Community financial assistance provided that finalapproval for Community funding is given. A contribution towards the
costs of movable assets shall be contingent on the obligation to use
such assets for the duration of the assistance, principally for the action,as defined by the subsidy agreement.
4. Community financial assistance for common learning actions
shall be granted on the basis of subsidy agreements, with appropriateprovisions for steering and monitoring. As a rule, the maximum dura-tion of these agreements shall be 26 months.
Community financial assistance shall not be renewable beyond the
stipulated maximum period of 26 months.
5. The political priority targets which will be taken into considera-
tion in the selection procedure for such actions shall be established inaccordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(2).
The Commission, assisted by the Committee set up under Article 12(1),
may review the political priority targets from time to time.
6. The minimum indicative subsidy threshold per common learning
action shall be EUR 250 000.
Article 8
Detailed rules
The Commission shall issue detailed rules for the procedure for
submission, selection, execution, dissemination and individual reportingand verification requirements concerning actions under the Programmein accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(2).2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 8
▼B
Article 9
State aid
Community financial assistance for the actions defined by the
Programme shall not exclude those actions being granted State aid atnational, regional or local level, insofar as such aid is compatible withthe State-aid arrangements laid down in the Treaty and within thelimits established for each type of action in Article 5(2), Article 6(4)and Article 7(3) respectively.
CHAPTER III
SUBMISSION AND SELECTION OF ACTIONS
Article 10
Submission of actions
Actions shall be submitted to the Commission according to the detailed
rules issued under Article 8. The submission shall contain all theelements necessary to enable the Commission to make its selection inaccordance with Article 11.
Article 11
Selection of actions — Granting of financial assistance
Submitted actions shall be evaluated by the Commission. The Commis-
sion shall decide whether to grant financial assistance under this
Regulation taking into account, for the selection of the action, theobjective referred to in Article 1, and the conditions referred to in Arti-cles 5, 6 or 7, as appropriate. The selection shall take into account therelative environmental merits of the proposed actions and their contri-bution to reducing road congestion. This decision shall be taken in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(2).
The Commission shall inform the beneficiaries and the Member States
of its decision.
CHAPTER IV
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 12
Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of
Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions ofArticle 8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 13
Funding
The financial framework for the implementation of the Marco Polo
Programme, for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2006, shall
be EUR 100 million.
Annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority
within the limits of the financial perspective.2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 9
▼M1
▼B
▼B
Article 14
Reserve for accompanying measures and programme evaluation
Up to 5 % of the budget provided for in this Regulation shall be set
aside for accompanying measures and independent evaluation of the
implementation of Articles 5, 6 and 7.
Article 15
Evaluation
1. The Commission shall inform the Committee at least once a year
concerning the financial execution of the Programme and give an
update of the status of all actions financed under the Programme.
2. By 31 December 2006 at the latest, the Commission shall present
to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic andSocial Committee and the Committee of the Regions an evaluationreport on the results of the Marco Polo Programme, having regard to
its objective, and accompanied if necessary by a proposal for the
amendment of this Regulation.
Article 16
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.2003R1382 — EN — 03.05.2004 — 001.001 — 10