Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision amending Decision No 1692/96/EC as regards seaports, inland ports and intermodal terminals as well as project No 8 in Annex III (98/C 120/08) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(97) 681 final - 97/0358(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 4 March 1998)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION;

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first paragraph of Article 129d thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty,

(1) Whereas Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network (1) constitutes a general reference framework covering the objectives, priorities and broad lines of measures envisaged as well as the projects of common interest in the context of the trans-European transport network;

(2) Whereas the establishment and development of the trans-European transport network contributes to the smooth functioning of the internal market, the strengthening of economic and social cohesion as well as to the sustainable mobility of persons and goods;

(3) Whereas, in order to achieve these objectives, the trans-European transport network is intended as a multimodal infrastructure network which serves to combine and integrate the different transport modes;

(4) Whereas interconnection points, including seaports, inland ports and intermodal terminals, are a pre-condition for the integration of the different transport modes in a multimodal network;

(5) Whereas the network outline plans in Annex I to Decision No 1692/96/EC consist essentially of a series of links, while the different interconnection points, with the exception of airports, are not identified in the outline plans;

(6) Whereas with respect to the principle of subsidiarity, the network outline plans for inland ports and intermodal terminals should not designate exact locations; whereas terminals in larger conurbations should be grouped in one transhipment area;

(7) Whereas, in accordance with the Commission's intention to promote the rapid creation of a number of 'Trans-European Rail Freight Freeways` outlined in its Communication of 29 May 1997 (2), the identification of terminals/transhipment areas should be coordinated with the development of cross-border, open-access rail freight corridors;

(8) Whereas the European Council at Dublin on 13 and 14 December 1996 agreed that project No 8 in the list from the Essen European Council should become the multimodal link Portugal/Spain with the rest of Europe;

(9) Whereas, therefore, Decision No 1692/96/EC should be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Decision No 1692/96/EC is hereby amended as follows:

1. In Article 10(4), the following indent is added:

'- contribute to the further development of new railway services in particular on the basis of "Trans-European Rail Freight Freeways", which are cross-border, open-access rail freight corridors.`

2. Article 11 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

'3. Inland ports shall form part of the network, in particular as points of interconnection between the waterways referred to in paragraph 2 and Article 14 and other modes of transport.`

(b) the following paragraph 3a is inserted:

'3a. The inland ports included in the network shall be:

(a) open to all commercial traffic,

(b) located on the network of inland waterways as shown in the outline plan in Section 4 of Annex I,

(c) interconnected with other trans-European transport routes as shown in Annex I,

(d) equipped with transhipment installations for intermodal transport.`

3. Article 12 is replaced by the following:

'Article 12

1. Seaports in the trans-European transport network shall include seaports which are open to all commercial traffic and which are identified in the outline plans in Section 5 of Annex I. They shall permit the development of sea transport and shall constitute shipping links for islands and the points of interconnection between sea transport and other modes of transport. They shall provide equipment and services to transport operators. Their infrastructure shall provide a range of services for passenger and goods transport, including ferry services and short- and long-distance shipping services, including coastal shipping, within the Community and between the latter and third countries.

2. The seaports included in the network shall fulfill the following criteria:

(a) total annual traffic volume is no less than 1 million tonnes freight, or

(b) total annual traffic volume is no less than 200 000 international passengers (trips between ports in two different countries).

In the case of islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas, the minimum required volume of passenger traffic may also include domestic traffic, providing the distance between the ports is greater than 5 km; or

(c) they provide connections between land links of the trans-European network, thereby ensuring the territorial continuity of the Community.

3. In addition to the criteria set out in Article 7, seaport and seaport-related projects of common interest shall comply with the criteria and specifications in Annex II.`

4. Article 14 is amended as follows:

(a) in paragraph 1, the second indent is replaced by the following text:

'- terminals which provide installations for intermodal transhipment from railways to inland waterways and roads and which are identified in the outline plans in Annex I;`

(b) the following paragraphs 2 and 3 are added:

'2. The terminals included in the network shall be:

- open to all commercial traffic;

- located on, or linked to, one of the rail corridors as specified in outline plan 7.1 in Annex I. Terminals in larger conurbations shall be grouped in one transhipment area;

- equipped with transhipment installations for intermodal transport.

3. In addition to the criteria set out in Article 7, projects of common interest relating to the combined transport network shall comply with the criteria and specifications in Annex II.`

5. Article 19 is replaced by the following:

'Article 19

Specific projects

Annex III contains, by way of indication, the projects identified in Annexes I and II and in other provisions of this Decision to which the Essen and Dublin European Councils attributed particular importance.`

6. Annexes I, II and III are amended as set out in the Annex to this Decision.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996, p. 1.

(2) COM(97) 242 final.

ANNEX

1. Annex I is amended as follows:

(a) On the contents page, the text in Section 5 is replaced by the following:

'5.0. Europe

5.1. Baltic Sea

5.2. North Sea

5.3. Atlantic Ocean

5.4. Mediterranean Sea - Western part

5.5. Mediterranean Sea - Eastern part`

(b) On the contents page, Section 7 is replaced by the following:

'Railway corridors and terminals

7.1.0. Europe

7.1.1. Belgium/Germany/France/Luxembourg/Netherlands/Austria

7.1.2. Spain/Portugal/Ireland/United Kingdom

7.1.3. Denmark/Finland/Sweden

7.1.4. Greece/Italy

7.2. Inland waterways and inland ports`

(c) Outline plans 5.0 to 5.5 (Seaports) are inserted and outline plans 7.1-A (Combined transport: Railway corridors), 7.1-B (large scale) and 7.2 (Combined transport: Inland waterways) are replaced by outline plans 7.1.0 to 7.1.4 (Combined transport corridors and terminals/transhipment areas) and 7.2 (Inland waterways and inland ports). These outline plans are contained in the Appendix.

2. Annex II is amended as follows:

(a) In Section 3, the following third indent is added:

'- new railway services to be developed in particular on the basis of "Trans-European Rail Freight Freeways".`

(b) In Section 4, the first part is replaced by the following:

'Inland ports

In addition to projects relating to the connections and inland ports mentioned in Annex I, projects of common interest will be deemed to include any infrastructure project corresponding to one or more of the following categories:

1. access to the port from inland waterways;

2. port infrastructure inside the port area;

3. other transport infrastructure inside the port area;

4. other transport infrastructures linking the port to other elements of the trans-European network.`

(c) Section 5 is amended as follows:

(i) Paragraph 1 becomes paragraph 2 and is replaced by the following:

'2. Categories of port and port-related projects of common interest

Port and port-related infrastructure projects should come under one or more of the following categories:

A. access to the port from the sea or inland waterways, including capital costs for ice-breaking works during winter;

B. infrastructure inside the port area;

C. inland transport infrastructure linking the port to other elements of the trans-European transport network.`

(ii) Paragraph 2 becomes paragraph 1 and the title is replaced by the following:

'1. Objectives of port and port-related projects of common interest`

(iii) Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

'3. Types of port and port-related projects of common interest

Special attention shall be given to the following types of projects, in particular:

- the development of short sea and sea-river shipping including the necessary infrastructure;

- upgrading of the port infrastructure in particular in ports on islands and in peripheral regions;

- creation or improvement of hinterland access, in particular through rail and inland waterway connections;

- development and installation of management and information systems such as EDI (electronic data interchange).`

(iv) The following paragraph 4 is added:

'4. Specific conditions

Infrastructure investment within the port area (excluding EDI) is not eligible for Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks, except for projects of common interest concerning combined transport in port areas as set out in Annex II Section 7. In eligible regions infrastructure investment can be funded by the Cohesion and Structural funds.

Projects must contribute to:

- integrating traffic into a trans-European transport network or a multimodal transport chain,

or

- greater use of environmentally friendly transport.`

(d) In Section 7, the third indent is replaced by the following:

'- adaptation of port areas, making it possible to develop or improve transfers between sea transport and rail and inland waterways in combined transport,`

3. Annex III is amended as follows:

(a) The title is replaced by the following:

'List of the fourteen projects adopted by the Essen and Dublin European Councils`

(b) The text of point 8 ('Motorway Lisbon/Valladolid`) is replaced by the following:

'Multimodal link Portugal/Spain with the rest of Europe`.