ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES 
DE LA COMMISSION 
 
 
 
COLLECTION RELIEE DES 
DOCUMENTS "COM" 
 
 
 
 
COM (84) 317 
 
 
 
Vol. 1984/0 144 
  
 
Disclaimer  
Conformém ent au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983 
concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique 
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983, 
p. 1), tel que modifié par le règlement (CE, Euratom) n° 1700/2003 du 22 septembre 2003 
(JO L 243 du 27.9.2003, p. 1), ce dossier est ouvert au public. Le cas échéant, les documents 
classifiés présents dans ce dossier ont été déclassifiés conformément à l'article 5 dudit 
règlem ent. 
In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983 
concerning the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Econom ic 
Communit y and the European Atom ic Energy Communit y (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as 
amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1700/2003 of 22 September 2003 (OJ L 243, 
27.9.2003, p. 1), t his file is open to the public. Where necessary, classified documents in this 
file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.  
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom  1. 
Februa r 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen  
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgem einschaft (ABI. L 43 vom  15.2.1983,  
S. 1), geändert durch die Verordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr. 1700/2003 vom 22. Septem ber 2003  
(ABI. L 243 v om 27.9.2003, S. 1), ist diese Datei der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit  
erforderlich, wurden die Verschlusssachen in dieser Datei in Übereinstimmung mit Artikel 5  
der genannten Verordnung freigegeben.  
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(84) 317 final  
Brussels, 18 June 1984
REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COUNCIL DECISION  
OF 20 FEBRUARY 1978
instituting a consultation procedure and setting up  
a committee in the field of transport infrastructure
COM(84) 317 final

Report on the implementation of the Council Decision  
of 20 February 1978
1. Article 6 of the Council Decision of 20 February 1978 instituting a  
consultation procedure and setting up a Committee in the field of
itransport mfrastructure stipulates that:
"The Commission shall forward at least every three years to the  
Council and to the European Parliament a report on the  
information it has received in accordance with this Decision  
and on the Committee's activities. Where appropriate, this  
report shall include observations aimed at informing the  
Member States of the Community's transport infrastructure  
requirements."
2. The Committee's tasks are laid down by Article 5 of the Decision:.
"It shall provide a forum for the consultation referred to in Article 3  
on a project or projects of interest to the Community.
At the request of the Commission, it shall, taking into account any  
views in relation to its tasks expressed by other Community bodies,  
organize:
(a) exchanges of information on the notifications of the plans and  
programmes referred to in Article 2;
(b) examination of any question concerning the development of a  
transport network of interest to the Community."
23. The first report on the implementation of the Council Decision of
20 February 1978 covered the Committee's activities between June 1978  
and March 1981. This second report covers the period from April 1981  
to March 1984, during which the Committee met seven times.
It should be mentioned that in those three years, on several occasions,  
the Commission sent the Council and Parliament information on the  
results of important work done to develop transport infrastructure  
activities, in
1OJ L 54, 25 February 1978
2Doc. C0M(81)333 final of 23 June 1981

~ 2 -
particular the two reports on the evaluation of Community interest 
and the transport infrastructure experimental Programme .  On a 
number of points mentioned in this report therefore it will be 
necessary simply to refer to these Communications.
4. Like the previous report, this report is divided into sections  
covering the Committee's main areas of activity. The las section  
contains a number of remarks explaining to the Member States the  
Community's transport infrastructure needs.
5. In accordance with the third paragraph of Article 5 of the Decision of  
20 February 1978 the members of the Committee have been consulted.
CONSULTATION ON PROJECTS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST
6. The consultation procedure provided for in Article 3 of the Council  
Decision of 28 February 1978 may be initiated either by the Commission  
or by a Member State. Consultation may only take place, however, if  
the Member State concerned has notified the Commission of a project
of Community interest (Article 2).
During the period with which we are concerned, no Member State considered  
it appropriate to notify the Commission officially of projects covered  
by the Decision of 28 February 1978 and thus to comply with the  
preconditions for possible consultation.
7. There may be several reasons for the Member States' reluctance to use  
the consultation procedure.
Some Member States find the prospect of undertaking major infrastructure  
projects of Community interest too uncertain to include it in their  
plans, even if they are only outline plans.
1~ Community assistance for transport infrastructure:  "the evaluation of 
Community interest" for decision~making C0MC8D507 final of 16/9/1981  
- The Community interest of transport infrastructure investments: practical 
experience with the evaluation methodology C0M(82)807 final of 7.12.1982  
~ Transport infrastructure experimental Programme C0M(82)828 final of 
10.12.1982

- 3 -
Other Member States which have already worked out medium" or long-term  
programmes would find it extremely difficult to meet the deadlines for  
completion of the projects.
In both cases, the Member States concerned are reluctant to commit  
themselves to a consultation procedure which may finish by identifying  
investment requirements and priorities which are difficult to meet.
Since the Community does not have a regular procedure for providing  
financial support to help Member States actually to meet these priorities,  
the consultation procedure seems to present few practical advantages.
To be sure, since 1982 the Commission has had to choose projects eligible  
for financial support because of the entry in the budget of appropriations  
for financial support for infrastructure projects. The Committee has,  
however, been able to help with the choice since it examines all matters  
relating to the development of means of communication of interest to the  
Community without the need for consultation.
8. Obviously the Commission has constantly been urging upon the Member  
States the need to use the consultation procedure. This is essential  
for long-term large-scale projects which may be very difficult to  
coordinate between Member States. Uncertainty about the future is also  
a reason for using the consultation procedure since it means that the  
project concerned will be evaluated in far greater detail. Moreover,  
in accordance with the decision of 1978, consultation may take place  
within the Community on projects at a preliminary preparation stage.
For projects which give rise to few or no coordination problems,  
particularly short-term projects which are often already planned, it is  
not worth using the consultation procedure and the Commission would not  
recommend it.
It is essential however to have information about projects of Community  
interest which help gradually to. develop a transport network of interest  
to the Community.

- 4 -
and in respect of which, if necessary, financial support might be  
sought. In accordance with the Council Decision of 28 February 1978,  
the Commission must at least be notified of these projects.
The Commission has suggested in the Committee on Transport Infrastructures  
a number of different ways of making the procedure more flexible in  
order to facilitate communication between the Member States.
EXCHANGES OF INFORMATION ON PLANS AND PROGRAMMES
9. Because it is more difficult than it used to be to forecast the extent  
and nature of transport operations, there is more risk in determining  
future investment requirements. At the same time, budgetary restrictions  
and the need to restrict the limited financial resources available to  
socio-economic investment providing good returns also means that these  
needs have to be proved to be real. The combination of these two  
factors makes the Member States extremely reluctant to make medium- and  
long-term plans for major projects particularly if they have to have  
specific objectives and deadlines for completion.
For this reason, very few plans and programmes are notified to the  
Commission by the Member States.
As in the past, the plans and programmes which are notified very  
considerably as regards their time-scale, definiteness and precision  
and are therefore very difficult to summarize.
Annex I lists the documents relating to Member States' plans and  
programmes sent to the Secretariat of the Committee on Transport  
Infrastructures which will be used as a basis for decisions by these  
Member States. The documents have been studied by the Committee'  
Secretariat and have been discussed at Committee meetings.
10. Under these circumstances, it was felt that the Committee could spend  
its time more profitably during the period under consideration than  
concentrating on comparing and coordinating different plans and  
programmes which were often uncertain or incomplete and did not cover  
the whole Community.

- 5 -
The Commission decided, in agreement with the Committee, that it would  
be more effective to take a pragmatic approach and attempt to identify  
the Community’s needs and select priority projects for the short"* and  
medium-term, irrespective of whether these formed part of national  
plans and programmes.
1
The report on bottlenecks of 20 June 1980 was a sign of a move in this
2direction. The experimental programme of 10 December 1982 requested  
bu the Council points the same way; this programme is somewhat more  
practical in that it proposes projects which the Member States feel  
they can complete between now and 1988 and which are mostly aimed at  
improving services on sections of routes described as inadequately  
served in the report on bottlenecks. Discussions within the Committee  
enabled the Commission to make proposals on the projects considered to  
be eligible for financial support during the 1982, 1983 and 1984 financial  
years.
The Council was informed of the experimental programme at its meeting  
on 16 December 1982.
On 20 June 1983 the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the  
programme, the substance of which was that it constitutes a first step  
in the right direction.
11. The experimental programme will continue to serve as a guide for
deciding which projects are eligible for financial support. It will  
have to be kept under review, particularly in the light of developments  
regarding bottlenecks and the level of services on the routes which  
form the network of interest to the Community.
At the Committee meeting on 23 February 1984, the Commission suggested  
that a beginning be made with updating contributions by Member States  
to the report on bottlenecks. Agreement had been reached on the  
principle of updating these contributions but it would take some governments  
several months. Accordingly it was not possible to include up-to-date  
information on bottlenecks for 1984 in this three-year report.
1C0M(80)323 final, 20 June 1980
2C0M(82)828 final, 5 August 1983

”  6 **
12. Study of the contributions made by the Member States to the experimental  
programme showed that very many of the projects were interrelated since  
most concerned major routes within the Community used by large volumes  
of long-distance traffic.
Obviously the removal of a bottleneck on one journey section may cause  
other difficulties elsewhere, thus increasing the priority of a project  
for improving another journey section. Where it is possible to transfer  
from one mode to another, the removal of a bottleneck may also have the  
opposite effect, making it less imperative to increase capacity on a  
competing route since the traffic has been transferred to the improved  
route.
These observations show why investment operations should not be considered  
in isolation when attempting to optimize the efficiency of investment  
overall. The best approach is still to work out a long-term plan of  
the network to act as a framework within which coordinated improvements  
can be carried out gradually (see point 13).
It is therefore important in the preliminary stages to have fuller  
information on the potential improvements to major routes envisaged by  
Member States and to achieve a better balance in the Community's  
activities by paying more attention to planning and general coordination.
QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE TRANSPORT NETWORK OF INTEREST TO THE COMMUNITY
13. The Committee made extensive use of the general responsibilities assigned  
to it under Article 5(2)(b) of the Decision of 20 February 1978 because  
it seemed particularly appropriate in the circumstances. It was 
important, in fact, gradually to obtain further details of projects  
which may be eligible for financial support (from the appropriat ions  
in the 1982, 1983 and 1984 budgets) in order to evaluate them, even  
though there was no official procedure for notifying and examining  
projects with a view to granting financial support; this is because  
there was no legal basis for such a procedure, and in particular there  
was no procedure for combining it with the consultation procedure  
referred to in the Decision of 20 February 1978.

- 7 -
The Committee's activities in this connection can be Listed under the  
following two headings: preparation of reports for the Council and
examination of projects which may be eligible for financial support.
14. Preparation of reports for the Council
At its meeting on 15 December 1981, the Council took formal note of  
the report on the evaluation of Community interest which was referred  
to in the previous three-year report.
At that meeting the Council asked the Commission to work with the  
Committee on Transport Infrastructures to apply the methods for evaluating  
the Community interest of infrastructure projects outlined in the  
abovementioned report experimentally, to a few specific projects.
The Council familiarized itself with the Commission's second report on  2evaluation at its meeting in December 1982. The European Parliament  
took it into consideration in its work on infrastructures.
The report describes tests carried out to apply the evaluation methodology  
in respect of the Community interest of infrastructure projects and the  
results obtained. The projects concerned are a fixed cross-Channel link,  
the crossing of the Strait of Messina and rail links across the Alps  
(Gotthard, Splugen and Brenner).
The report concludes that the methodology is worthwhile and practicable  
although it should gradually be improved and made generally applicable.
Under the same heading, the Community helped the Commission to prepare  
the experimental programme referred to in points 7 and 8.
1COM(81)507 final, 16 September 1981
2C0M(82)807 final, 7 December 1982

- 8 -
15. Examination of projects which may be eligible for financial support
Starting in the 1982 financial year, the budgetary authority entered  
appropriations under item 781: financial support for transport infra­
structure projects (10 million ECU in 1982, 15 million ECU in 1983 and  
80 million ECU in 1984).
This prompted the Commission to propose a selection of projects eligible  
for financial support, either under a special regulation on appropriations  
from the 1982 budget or under the proposal for a Council regulation of  
5 August 1983 on financial support for a multiannual transport infra­
structure programme, Article 11 of which relates to the 1983 and 1984  
financial years.
16. The Committee helped to select the projects proposed and at its various  
meet ings :
a) held general discussions on projects, and in particular, after 1983,  
on the projects included in the experimental programme;
b) compiled technical and economic information sheets on preselected  
projects based on a standard list of questions suggested by the  
Commission;
c) made a critical analysis of these information sheets;
d) conducted further appraisals, in some cases with technical and  
economic assistance from the Commission using its study appropriations  
where appropriate.
Annex II lists by mode of transport the projects which the Committee  
examined under this heading.
OBSERVATIONS AIMED AT INFORMING THE MEMBER STATES OF THE COMMUNITY'S  
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS
17. As a result of the work described above, it is possible to establish  
an outline work programme for the next three-year period.
1OJ C 36, 10.2.84

- 9 -
18· Improving the application of the method for evaluating the Community  
interest of infrastructure projects
Like the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee,  
the Council has always insisted on the need to apply the method for  
evaluating the Community interest of infrastructure projects.
Considerable progress has been made in this direction as regards the  
information provided by Member States so that the Commission has  
increasingly detailed information for evaluating the projects concerned.
Further progress should be made in this direction by encouraging Member  
States to make the effort to align their own methods for evaluating  
the Community interest of projects with the method proposed in Documents  
C0M(81)507 of 16 September 1981 and C0M(82)807 of 7 December 1982.
They should preferably provide the Commission with as much information  
as possible on volumes of traffic anticipated and expected advantages  
from completion of projects, giving priority to the Community’s most  
important routes.
For its part, the Commission will be prepared to provide technical  
assistance with evaluation studies as far as its appropriations for  
studies allow (Article 780 of the Budget). It is already working on  
a framework for evaluation together with an operating manual which will  
allow evaluation of projects to be harmonized by using a micro-computer.  
This system will be used with a number of pilot projects before being  
applied to other projects sent to the Commission.
The Commission has also asked for a study designed to predict potential  
passenger demand on high-speed rail links. The results of the study  
should be available by the end of 1984 and should help the Member States  
considerably in assessing the Community’s needs. Naturally the  
Committee will be informed of these results. A second part of the  
study will then consider whether it is worth setting up a high-speed  
rail network.

- 1 0  ~
19. Working out a long-term infrastructure plan
(I) There is no doubt about the value, in theory, of some kind of  
master plan for coordinating investment. The practical aspects  
of the matter were discussed at the Committee's meeting on
25 October 1983. Many members of the Committee felt that, in  
view of present economic circumstances, it was ill-advised to  
work out a master plan since, because forecasts were uncertain,  
it would be a complicated and difficult undertaking which might  
raise false hopes. Other members felt however that, although  
they were fully aware of the difficulties, it was worth devising  
a reference plan provided that its objectives were established  
with some care.
(II) In the Commission's opinion, the wider use of Community financial  
support increased the need to improve coordination of infrastructure  
investment; for this reason it was important to establish  
guidelines for improving the network taking into account national  
plans and programmes. Accordingly the Commission suggested to
the Committee at its meeting on 23 February 1984 that it gradually  
work out a master plan in the following three stages;
a) determine the network of Community interest which was to be  
the subject of coordinated development;
b) list the investment required on this network and the investment  
envisaged by Member States, and see how they interrelated;
c) identify new investment required or cases where deadlines  
would have to be changed (the actual Master Plan).

~  1 1  -
20. It was the Commission's intention to try to complete the first stage  
by the end of 1984. Work would consist chiefly of:
a) selecting the criteria for deciding on this network (basically in  
order to improve the flow of trade between the Member States);
b) using these criteria and statistics on traffic and trade flows to  
study the basic networks already used in the past (E roads and the  
UIC rail network) in order to select a Limited number of routes.
Work on the second stage would begin at the same time with the aim of  
producing results in the course of 1985.
An appeal would be made to the Member States in this connection to  
endeavour to provide fuller information on the volume and nature of  
international traffic on the major routes.
21. The Committee had some serious reservations about the work programme  
suggested by the Commission with the result that the matter was held  
over to a future meeting of the Committee.
22. The future
The Commission's various reports on infrastructure have always emphasized  
the external effects of infrastructure and the difficulty of relating  
these effects to general economic policy objectives and to the objectives  
of the various industrial policies.
The studies on the development of Community interest will take considerable  
account of this. The Commission also feels that there is another type  
of link which should be the subject of long-term study, namely the  
effect of consumer preference on the demand for passenger and goods  
transport

- 1 2  -
services, because the individual’s choice of mode or choice of holiday  
location, for example, depends not only on transport costs and income,  
but also on certain values which society attaches to travel.
It would be useful for the Committee to discuss findings in this  
connection and possibly to do more to integrate this sociological  
dimension of transport into its forecasts of traffic volume and  
investment needs.
C O N C LU S IO N S
23. The first three-yearly report covered the Committee's "running-in"  
period. This second report covers a period during which much fuller  
details became available of Member States’  projects, the first attempts  
were made to assess the Community interest of projects and the  
Community made its first financial contributions.
The Committee has played a very worthwhile role in providing the  
Commission with considerable and increasingly coherent information  
on a large number of projects of Community interest. Nevertheless,  
as stated in this report, projects are still evaluated far too much  
in isolation with no regard for overall considerations and long-term  
prospects.
This report therefore covers a transitional period which should lead  
to much greater awareness of the need to coordinate projects, ‘  
particularly those which may receive financial support from the  
Community.
24. On a political level, the Commission has the following objectives to  
put before the Committee:
a) to refocus the Committee's activities on the consultation procedure  
(particularly for long-term large-scale projects) and on discussing  
plans and programmes;

- 1 3  -
b) to continue work on "improving methods of assessing the Community 
interest of projects;
c) to carry out preparatory work on the preparation of a  master plan, 
attempting to pay more attention to the external effects of investment, 
but also to changes in the economic system and its  underlying values.
A s th is task w ill be a  gradual one there is no reason w hy the 
Committee should not continue to play its  support role. Mindful of 
the medium-term objectives that it  outlined in its  proposal for a  
regulation of August 1983 and its  recent communication of 20 March 1984 
(C0M(84)172), the Commission considers that the main purpose of 
financing operations should be as follows:
1. to eliminate serious bottlenecks within the Community, p articularly 
those affecting border crossings;
2. to improve ra il transport on the major routes in respect of long­
distance goods tr a ffic  (combined transport operations) and 
passenger transport (high-speed networks);
3. to improve conditions on land-sea routes;
4. to integrate peripheral networks into the Community network;
5. to modernize the international waterways system.

A N N E X  I _
Documents relating to Plans and Programmes of Member States
Documents re la tifs  aux Plans et Programmes des Etats membres
Pläne und Programme der M i tg liedstaaten - Dokumente
Dokumenter vedrorende rnedlesnsstaternes planer og programmer
Documenten,. welke betrekking tiebben op plannen en 
programma's van de Lid-Staten
Documenti re la tiv i ai Piani e  Programmi degli Stati Membri 
"Εγγραφα σχετικά με τα σχέδια και τα προγράμματα των Κρατών Μελών
Belgi que
Carte des routes express et autoroutes en Belgique 
Carte du réseau fe rro via ire  
Carte des voies navigables
Bundesrepublik Deutschland 
Bundesverkehrswegeplan "80"
Fünfjahresplan für den Ausbau der Bundesfernstraßen in den Jahren 1981 bis 
1985
Danmark
Trafikforbindelser Mellem - Øst - og Vestdanmark
Oversigt over investeringer pa tr a fik -  og kommunikationsområdet, oct. 1981 
France
Plan quinquennal 1984 - 1988
Plans directeurs par m ode de transport (attendu prochainement dès leur 
approbat i on)
Ireland
Iris h  road development plans under review
*
Ita lie
Quadro di Riferimento per i l  Piano Generale dei Trasporti 
Piano poliannale di sviluppo della Rete F.S.
Calcolo della capacità dei tronchi delle strade statali dei compartimenti 
della V ia b ilità  (ANAS). Volume primo - Ita lia  Settentrionale

- 2  -A n n e x  I
Luxembourg
Programme directeur de L'aménagement du te rrito ire  - Directives 
générales d'aménagement. Memorial 29 novembre 1977
Nederland
Vaarwegennota, ontwerp 1  oktober 1975 
Structuurschema Verkeer en Vervoer 1977
Structuurschema Verkeer en Vervoer, deel c) van 25 m ei 1981 
Meerjarenprogramma personenvervoer 1984 - 1988
United Kingdom
Policy for roads; England 1983
Policy for roads, Wales (in preparation)
Policy for roads; Scotland 1982 
B R B  Cooperate Plan 1983 - 1988

A N N E X  II
Projects/ Projets/ Vorhaben/ Progetto/ Project/ Projekter
Road/ Route/ Strasse/ Strada/ Wegen/ Vej
- Contournement Sud de Strasbourg
- Contournement de Longwy
- Route Nouvetle Le Fayet-Les Pouches
- Contournement de Sedan
• Contournement autoroutier dc Thionville
- Autoroute section Montmelian a  Pont Royal
- N e w  alignment of a  4-lane motorway ; Mesti-Macri
-  Conversion of an existing road to motorway ; Elefsina-Korinthos Isthmus
- N e w  alignment of a  4-lane motorway ; Korinthos-Nemea railway statio n .
- " " " " " " ; Megalopoli-Ihalia
- Conversion of an existing road to motorway ; Varibobi-Schimatari.
" ii ii ii ii . /\x-jos Bridge-Ga11i cos
Bridge
-  " " " " " ; Axios-Klidi
- Construction of by-pass of Wexford
-  " " " " Newtownmountkennedy
- " " " " Shankill/Bray
- Construction of section of ring road :  Dublin
-  Construction of new road to Dublin Airport
- " of by-pass of Balbiggan
-  " " " " Dunleer
- Section Potaschbierg-frontiere allemande de I'autoroute de Treves
- Aanlegautosnelweg :  A 1  wegvak Borne (R W  35) - Duitse grens
- Construction of sections of London O rbital motorway
S w an ley/Sevenoaks
Leatherhead/Reigate
M4/M40
- Construction of by-pass of Sidcup
Rail /Chemin de fer/ Eisenbahn/ Ferrovia/ Spoorweqen/ Jesenbane
- Capacity increase between Helsingdr - K«5benhavn - R^dby
- Rangierbahnhof Nurnberg.
- Amelioration des conditions de circulation sur la ligne de Strasbourg 
a Mulhouse

A N N E X  II
- 2
- Amélioration des conditions de circulation sur le tronçon 
Remilly-Forbach.
- Modernization du noeud fe rro via ire  de Mulhouse-Nord
- Aménagements gare d'Aulnoye
- Aménagement gare de Modane
- Modernization des in sta lla tio n s ferroviaires du port de Séte
- Modernization of line Larissa-Plati
- R a ttifica  di tracciato tra Albate Camerlata e  Chiasso della linea 
Milano-Chiasso.
- E le c trific a tio n  of section Colchester-Harwich
In land w a terways / Voies navig ables/ Ji^s^n^ege/ Vie navigabili/  Waterweqen/
V andvej e
- Aménagement de L a  Lys mitoyenne
- Aménagement de l'Escaut
- Een spoorbrug over de rivier de Oude Maas nabij Dordrecht.