EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/73

(2004/C 84 E/0078)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3628/03

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

(5 December 2003)

Subject: High-speed rail link between Galicia and Portugal as part of the European growth initiative

The ‘quick start’ priority projects section of the European growth initiative includes high-speed rail links between Galicia and Portugal, namely the Vigo-Oporto part-project (for which no starting date is given, although it is due to be completed in 2010) and the La Coruña-Lisbon-Sines line (for which neither a starting date nor a date of completion is indicated).

What are the actual prospects for the above projects? What are the starting and completion dates for the Sines-Lisbon-Oporto and Oporto-Vigo part-projects and for the Sines-La Coruña project as a whole? What effect has the agreement on the projects which was reached at the Luso-Spanish government summit held on 8/9 November 2003 had on the prospects for completion of the projects?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 2004)

The Commission's report of 11 November 2003 to the Council on the Commission President's growth initiative includes 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.

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 Vigo-Oporto project forms part of priority project No 19 ‘High-speed rail interoperability on the Iberian peninsula’ and is therefore included in the programme. The agreement reached at the recent summit between the Portuguese and Spanish governments on 8/9 November 2003 specifies that work on it will be completed in 2009, which is earlier than the forecast previously sent to the Commission (2010).

Regarding the Sines-Lisbon-Oporto line, the Commission would point out that only the Lisbon/Oporto-Madrid connection is included in the programme, as part of priority project No 3 ‘High-speed railway lines of south-west Europe’.

The agreement reached at the recent summit between the Portuguese and Spanish governments on 8/9 November 2003 served to establish the route of the Lisbon/Oporto-Madrid link, and this constituted an important step in the construction of the trans-European transport network. The agreement was also a precondition for including the link in the quick start programme. Under the Spanish-Portuguese agreement, the Lisbon-Madrid connection will be completed by 2010, and the Aveiro-Salamanca connection by 2015.

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 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.