EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/74

(2004/C 84 E/0079)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3629/03

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(5 December 2003)

Subject: High-speed rail link between Galicia, other parts of Spain and the French border

The section of the European growth initiative which is concerned with priority ‘quick start’ high-speed railway projects does not include the projects for rail links between Galicia, the rest of Spain and the French border, despite repeated assurances from the Spanish and Galician Governments that they will be completed in 2010.

Why are the above links absent from the list of priority ‘quick start’ high-speed railway projects? What forecasts concerning the links have been supplied by the Spanish Government to the European Union? What Community funding is to be made available by the Commission, and when?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 2004)

The Commission's report to the Council of 11 November 2003 on the growth initiative does indeed include a quick start programme. As regards transport, this programme contains the cross-border sections of the priority projects the Commission proposed on 1 October 2003 as part of the revision of the Decision on Community guidelines for the trans-European network (TEN).

The projects in the quick start programme meet the following four criteria:

1. they are ready to start immediately — the aim being for substantial investment to be committed by the end of 2006,

2. they have a major cross-border impact,

3. they will have beneficial results in terms of growth and jobs. and

4. they will help protect the environment. The quick start programme is a tool and will in no way affect the Commission's proposal of 1 October 2003 on the Community guidelines for TENs, which will be adopted through co-decision.

The programme includes the ‘North-Northwest Corridor, including Vigo-Oporto’, which is one section of priority project No 19 ‘High-speed rail interoperability on the Iberian peninsula’ proposed on 1 October 2003. The ‘North-Northwest Corridor’ includes rail links between Galicia and the rest of Spain, linking up with the Madrid-Vitoria-Dax project. The data set out in the programme are those received from the Member States.

With regard to links between Spain and France, the Commission can inform the Honourable Member that the Figueras-Perpignan section, which forms part of priority project No 3 ‘High-speed railway lines of south-west Europe’, is also included in the quick start programme.

Furthermore, in addition to the projects included in the growth initiative, the Commission has already been able to ensure the Honourable Member on several occasions that all the TEN projects concerning Galicia are covered by the Community guidelines it proposed on 1 October 2003, which are currently being examined by Parliament and the Council.

Community financing will be guided by current budgetary regulations and allocations. Accordingly, the Commission's proposals of 1 October 2003 included a proposal to amend the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) Financial Regulation by raising the maximum rate of contributions from the TEN budget from 10 % to 30 % of the cost of work on cross-border projects. The Council of Finance Ministers on 25 November 2003 reached political agreement on increasing it to 20 %, while at the same time broadening the scope of the maximum 20 % contribution to include projects crossing natural barriers. These provisions will be applicable as soon as they are finally adopted.

In addition, the European growth initiative is being supported by innovative financing methods. For instance, the Commission is preparing a new guarantee mechanism to cover the specific commercial risks of TEN projects in their post-construction phase.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), too, is playing an active role in the growth initiative through its TEN investment mechanism. Furthermore, it has now taken the necessary decisions for reinforcing its structured financing mechanism, through which it finances project risks which would otherwise not be covered by its conventional loan instruments. The EIB is also increasing the risk capital assistance it provides, and is proposing new and innovative instruments such as ‘securitisation structures’.