WRITTEN QUESTION E-3849/98

by Ria Oomen-Ruijten (PPE) , Karl-Heinz Florenz (PPE) , Jan Bertens (ELDR) and Klaus-Heiner Lehne (PPE) to the Commission

(22 December 1998)

Subject: Construction of motorways A 68, A 73 and A 74 in the Netherlands

The planned motorways A 73 (Venlo South to Maasbracht), the adjoining A 68 (Roermond to Elmpt) with extended exit and the A 74 (Venlo to the German border) form part of the Trans-European Networks and are thus eligible for European co-funding (maximum 10 % of project costs), provided the Netherlands government includes them on its list of priorities.

The fact that the Netherlands government has moved these cross-border links down the list of priorities is not only causing serious problems in the regions concerned but has also occasioned considerable embarrassment to the German government, since the corresponding roads on the German side are already open or under construction.

1. Is it true that the Netherlands government has not proposed any road construction projects for European co-funding since 1992?

2. Is it true that the co-funding allocated in 1998 (ECU 32 million) went to the Betuwe line, the TGV link to Brussels and two studies including one concerning a possible TGV link between the Eastern Randstad (Amsterdam-Rotterdam conurbation) and the Rhine-Ruhr area?

3. What is the point of European co-funding for Trans-European Networks when bottlenecks in these networks like the A 73, the A 68 and the A 74 are not given priority?

4. Can consultations be held with the Netherlands and German governments on drafting the list of priorities for 1999 and 2000, which the Netherlands has not yet submitted, so that trans-European bottlenecks can be dealt with first of all?

5. Are there any opportunities for providing advance funding for postponed projects through the EIB? If so, what are they?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(3 March 1999)

1. Although the Community provided financial support to a number of road projects in the period 1986-1989, the Commission has not granted trans-European network (TEN) support to Dutch road projects since then.

2. and 3. Since 1995, the majority of Community support (some 60 %) under the TEN programme has been allocated toward the 14 priority projects for transport. The high-speed line between Amsterdam and Brussels and the freight line between Rotterdam and the German border (the Betuwe line) are both included in this priority list. Most of the TEN support given to the Netherlands has been allocated to these projects, as well as to the high-speed line Randstad - Dutch/German border (Rhein-Ruhr).

In 1998 13 million euro was granted to studies concerning the high-speed line Amsterdam - Belgian border, 15 million euro to studies on the Betuwe route and 2 million euro to the studies on the high-speed line Randstad - Dutch/German border (Rhein-Ruhr). 2 million euro was also granted to studies on upgrading of the Maasroute, which is an inland waterway project. All of these projects demonstrate the value-added of European co-funding.

4. The annual submission of applications for support from the programme for the trans-European transport networks is co-ordinated in each Member State by the national authorities, which forward them to the Commission. The choice of applications to the Commission is therefore the responsibility of the Member States. As far as cross-border projects that reduce bottlenecks in the trans-European network are concerned, the Commission is ready to support such projects, because they often have a clear trans-European profile. The co-ordination and direct responsibility for the projects fall however, to the Member States and regional or local authorities although some cross-border discussions are organised in the framework of the Interreg II programme.

5. The European Investment Bank (EIB) also contributes to the financing of the TENs. One of the main areas for loans from the EIB is transport infrastructure projects, including road projects.