Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty 1. To help achieve the objectives referred to in Articles 26 and 174 and to enable citizens of the Union, economic operators and regional and local communities to derive full benefit from the setting-up of an area without internal frontiers, the Union shall contribute to the establishment and development of trans-European networks in the areas of transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructures. 2. Within the framework of a system of open and competitive markets, action by the Union shall aim at promoting the interconnection and interoperability of national networks as well as access to such networks. It shall take account in particular of the need to link islands, landlocked and peripheral regions with the central regions of the Union. (Article 170 TFEU) 1. In order to achieve the objectives referred to in Article 170, the Union: — shall establish a series of guidelines covering the objectives, priorities and broad lines of measures envisaged in the sphere of trans-European networks; these guidelines shall identify projects of common interest, — shall implement any measures that may prove necessary to ensure the interoperability of the networks, in particular in the field of technical standardisation, — may support projects of common interest supported by Member States, which are identified in the framework of the guidelines referred to in the first indent, particularly through feasibility studies, loan guarantees or interest-rate subsidies; the Union may also contribute, through the Cohesion Fund set up pursuant to Article 177, to the financing of specific projects in Member States in the area of transport infrastructure. The Union's activities shall take into account the potential economic viability of the projects. 2. Member States shall, in liaison with the Commission, coordinate among themselves the policies pursued at national level which may have a significant impact on the achievement of the objectives referred to in Article 170. The Commission may, in close cooperation with the Member State, take any useful initiative to promote such coordination. 3. The Union may decide to cooperate with third countries to promote projects of mutual interest and to ensure the interoperability of networks. (Article 171 TFEU)

Competences of the Agency Objectives TEN-TEA is responsible for managing the technical and financial implementation of the Commission's TEN-T Programme. Its role is to improve the effectiveness of TEN-T implementation at a lower cost; to strengthen the links between the TEN-T and communities of experts; to mobilise a high level of expertise and make the recruitment of specialised staff easier; to ensure a better coordination of funds with other Community instruments; to enable the simplification and flexibility of TEN-T implementation; to raise the profile of Community action in the field of TEN-T; and in general to add value to the management of the TEN-T Programme. Tasks (a) ensure the technical and financial management of projects and events which are co-financed under the TEN-T budget; (b) collect, analyse and transmit to the Commission all information required for the implementation and programming of TEN-T; (c) provide technical support to project promoters and the financial institution responsible for managing the loan guarantee instrument for the TEN-T projects; (d) provide any technical and administrative support requested by the Commission. Its parent, DG MOVE, continues to address all policy-making and institutional tasks related to TEN-T.

Governance 1 — Steering Committee The Agency's activities are supervised by a Steering Committee which is currently composed of five members and one observer. The members of the Steering Committee are appointed for 2 years. The Steering Committee meets in principle four times a year. Certain measures or decisions need its approval before they can be implemented. This applies for example to the administrative budget, the establishment plan, the Work Programme, the Annual Activity Report, the provisional accounts of all revenue and expenditure, the external evaluation report and the adoption of several special rules and measures etc. On a number of other actions, the committee is kept informed. In exceptional and urgent cases, decisions are taken through a written procedure. 2 — Director Appointed by the European Commission for 5 years. 3 — Internal audit The Internal Audit Service of the European Commission and The Internal Audit Capability of the Agency. 4 — External audit Court of Auditors. 5 — Discharge Authority Parliament acting on a recommendation from the Council.

Resources available to the Agency in 2010 (2009) Budget (A) 8,0 billion euro (100 % general budget of the European Union) for the TEN-T budget linked to the 2007-2013 Financial Perspective. The Agency implements the operational budget under the responsibility of the Commission. (B) 9,79 million euro (100 % EU subsidy) for the administrative budget for which the Agency is autonomous. Staff at 31 December 2010 TA posts: 33 posts listed in the establishment plan, of which 31 (94 %) occupied. Contract staff: 66 posts planned, of which 62 (94 %) were occupied. Total staff: 99 (93 occupied) Allocated to (a) Operational activities: 65 (61 occupied) (b) Administrative activities: 34 (32 occupied)

Products and services 2010 The Agency identified four specific objectives for operational activities for 2010 which were linked to the priorities established by DG MOVE. The first was to support the completion of TEN-T infrastructure by the effective and efficient technical and financial management of the TEN-T Programme and projects, putting in evidence the added value and expertise of the Agency. The second was to support in particular the deployment of Intelligent Transport infrastructure throughout the TEN-T. The third was to support DG MOVE in the context of the TEN-T policy revision and mid-term programme review, in particular by carrying out an evaluation of the implementation of the projects. The fourth was an increased awareness about the TEN-T Programme, the Agency and its achievements, and improved support to its partners, notably on issues related to project financing and Public Private Partnerships. The Agency also set two specific objectives for its horizontal activities: one was an increased efficiency of the Agency's operations by streamlining its working methods, internal organisation, structure and staff management, and developing new tools (IT and reporting tools) for improving the management of the project life cycle and for statistical analysis, reporting and monitoring purposes. The other was to further increase the efficiency of the internal control system so that reasonable assurance can be given that resources assigned to the activities are used according to the principles of sound financial management and that the control procedures in place give the necessary guarantees concerning the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. 2010 was the second complete year of operation of TEN-T EA. The main challenges for the year were to actively contribute to the priority areas of action identified by the Agency's parent DG, to continue to improve the technical and financial management of the TEN-T projects for all transport modes, and to fully demonstrate the added value of the executive agency in contributing to the effective implementation of the Programme.