WRITTEN QUESTION No. 888/98 by Dietrich ELCHLEPP to the Commission. Trans-European networks - rail links between Germany and France in the southern part of the upper Rhine valley
Date: 1998-03-11
Institutions: ELCHLEPP, European Parliament
Subjects: EU financing, France, Germany, rail transport, trans-European network, transport infrastructure, transport network

C 323/92

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 10. 98

(98/C 323/130)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0888/98

by Dietrich Elchlepp (PSE) to the Commission

(11 March 1998)

Subject: Trans-European networks › rail links between Germany and France in the southern part of the upper

Rhine valley

1. What  is  the  state  of  play  as  regards  the  planning  and  development  of  rail  links  between  Germany  and
France as part of the trans-European networks?

Can  TEN  funds  also  be  used  to  finance  track-doubling  work  on  the  currently  single-track  rail  bridge

2.
between Strasbourg and Kehl?

Can TEN funds also be used for regional and local cross-border rail projects, e.g. in the southern part of the

3.
upper Rhine valley? What other EU financing facilities exist for such cross-border rail projects?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(20 April 1998)

1.
The guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, Decision No 1692/96/EC of
the Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 for the development of the trans-European transport network
(TEN-T) (1) include two connections between the French and German railway networks: Forbach-Saarbru¤cken
and  Strasbourg-Kehl.  These  two  cross-border  links  form  part  of  wider  (cid:145)projects  of  common  interest(cid:146):  the
construction/upgrading of the Paris › Reims › (Metz › Luxembourg) › Vandie‘res › Saarbru¤cken › Mannheim
axis,  with  continuation  to  Frankfurt  and  Berlin,  as  well  as  the  construction/upgrading  of  the  Vandie‘res  ›
Strasbourg › Kehl axis, with continuation to Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Mu¤nchen, Salzburg and Wien (› Budapest).
Both in France and Germany, relevant measures are foreseen in the medium-term investment plans. France has
declared that the construction of the new line between Paris and Vandie‘res shall start by the end of 1999. In
Germany,  the  financing  agreement  (Finanzierungsvereinbarung)  between  government  and  railways  for  the
upgrading of the Saarbru¤cken › Ludwigshafen section (allowing speeds of 160 to 200 kilometres per hour with
tilting  trains)  will  be  concluded  in  the  first  quarter  of  this  year;  works  are  planned  to  be  completed  in  2002.
The schedule for the upgrading of the Kehl-Appenweier section will be co-ordinated with the construction and
upgrading works in France.

2.
Since the bridge is part of a project of common interest as defined in the TEN-T guidelines, TEN-T funds
can be granted on the basis of 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 (2). According to this,
Community aid can be granted to projects financed by Member States, or by regional or local authorities, or by
bodies working within an administrative or legal framework which makes them equivalent to public entities.
The amount of aid granted from the trans-European transport network budget cannot exceed 10% of the total
investment cost. The relevant request has to be submitted to the Commission by the Member State concerned.
Decisions on the fund allocations will than be made on the basis of a series of conditions and criteria set out in
Regulation (EC) No 2236/95, and within the limits of the annual budget available.

3.
It is not possible to grant financial aid from the trans-European transport networks budget to any project
which is not identified in the TEN-T Guidelines as a project of common interest. Concerning other Community
funding possibilities for such regional projects, the Interreg programme does not seem appropriate in this case
either. Feasibility studies (and not works) can be financed under this instrument.

(1)  OJ L 228, 9.9.1996.
(2)  OJ L 228, 23.9.1995.