WRITTEN QUESTION E-2847/01

by Ari Vatanen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 October 2001)

Subject: Moselle/Saône-Rhône wide waterway link

The Commission has been asked to consider whether a Moselle/Sâone-Rhône wide waterway link could be of European interest. Building the canals needed to link the Moselle, the Saône and the Rhône would involve also linking the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the North Sea and the Baltic by a system of rivers and canals. The Seine, Rhine, Rhône and Moselle basins are likely to remain dead-ends if there is no scope for economic development on this north-south axis, at the centre of a large-scale euro-corridor.

The system mentioned above would offer the following advantages:

- each 3000 tonne barge is the equivalent of some 200 heavy lorries, freeing road capacity, which is of course an environmental benefit;

- the tonne/kilometre cost of each container is estimated to be about half that of rail freight;

- hydroelectric schemes are compatible with the aims of the Kyoto Protocol on climatic change.

The cost of a Moselle-Saône wide waterway link would be some 4 billion euros, which amount would serve to remove congestion at the junction of the largest international traffic flows.

What is the Commission's view of this project?

Does the Commission intend to carry out studies to assess its benefits and feasibility?

What Community funding could be provided (for example under the TENs)?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(30 November 2001)

Two requests for funding concerning the project to create a Moselle/Sâone-Rhône link were indeed received by the Commission in 2000 under Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 of 18 September 1995 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks(1). These requests concerned the study into and work of raising the height of bridges and deepening the Moselle.

An examination of these applications showed that the technical maturity of the corresponding projects was not sufficiently proven. Moreover, the amounts requested were less than 1 million. Parliament has recommended that, as a general rule, the Commission should not grant funding for trans-European network projects of less than 1 million. Having regard moreover to the whole of the budget available in 2000, the Commission therefore decided, in cooperation with the French authorities, to give priority to projects in France which are technically more mature and involve higher amounts.

The White Paper on European transport policy for 2010(2) recognised inland waterways transport as being particularly efficient in terms of energy consumption and use of space. The Commission notes in this connection that the Moselle/Saône-Rhône link would form the only inland waterway connecting the North Sea with the Mediterranean since the Rhine-Rhône canal project has been officially abandoned by the Member State concerned. In the proposal for a decision amending Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network(3) adopted by the Commission on 2 October 2001(4), the Moselle/Saône-Rhône link is therefore still shown as a planned inland waterway on the map of the inland waterway network. Under the terms of Article 11 of that Decision, the modernisation or construction work on that waterway should enable class Va/Vb to be achieved at a later date, thus allowing the passage of vessels of 3000 tonnes.

Should a new request concerning the Moselle/Saône-Rhone link be made, the Commission would once again examine the possibilities of funding under the abovementioned Regulation on the basis of the intrinsic merits of the project and the available budget.

(1) OJ L 228, 23.9.1995.

(2) COM(2001) 370 final.

(3) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996.

(4) COM(2001) 544 final.