Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Trans-European Networks - 1999 Annual Report: pursuant to Article 16 of Regulation 2236/95 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial assistance in the field of Trans-European-Networks
Date: 2000-09-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: balance of payments assistance, deepening of the European Union, economic and social cohesion, report, trans-European network

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 22.09.2000
COM(2000) 591 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORKS
1999 ANNUAL REPORT

pursuant to Article 16 of Regulation 2236/95
laying down general rules for the granting of
Community financial assistance
in the field of Trans-European-Networks

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.

2.

Executive Summary : An overview of TEN in 1999..................................................... 5

Progress achieved on specific projects ......................................................................... 7

2.1. Energy ................................................................................................................... 7

2.2. Telecommunications .............................................................................................. 7

2.3. Transport ............................................................................................................... 7

3.

TEN-related legislation and committees....................................................................... 9

3.1. Guidelines and related legislation........................................................................... 9

3.1.1.

Amendment of the TEN-Energy Guidelines.................................................. 9

3.1.2.

Revision of the TEN-Telecom Work Programme and Guidelines ................. 9

3.1.3.

Adoption of IDA-2 ....................................................................................... 9

3.1.4.

Amendment of the TEN-Transport guidelines............................................... 9

3.1.5.

Interoperability of the TEN-Transport conventional rail networks .............. 10

3.1.6.

Trans-European Rail Freight Network (TERFN) ........................................ 10

3.2. TEN Guidelines committees................................................................................. 10

3.2.1.

Energy........................................................................................................ 10

3.2.2.

Telecommunications................................................................................... 10

3.2.3.

Transport................................................................................................... 11

3.3. TEN financial assistance committee..................................................................... 11

3.4.

Financial control .................................................................................................. 11

4.

Financing the TEN..................................................................................................... 13

4.1. TEN financial assistance Committee .................................................................... 13

4.1.1.

Energy........................................................................................................ 13

2

4.1.2.

Telecommunications................................................................................... 13

4.1.3.

Transport.................................................................................................... 14

4.2.

IDA AND EDICOM ............................................................................................ 15

4.3.

Structural Funds................................................................................................... 16

4.3.1.

ERDF ......................................................................................................... 16

4.3.2.

Cohesion Fund ........................................................................................... 17

4.4. European Investment Bank (EIB) loans................................................................ 20

4.5. European Investment Fund (EIF) guarantees ........................................................ 21

4.6. Member States' financing ..................................................................................... 22

4.7.

Financing infrastructure in third countries ............................................................ 22

4.7.1.

ISPA .......................................................................................................... 22

4.7.2.

PHARE ...................................................................................................... 23

4.7.3.

TACIS........................................................................................................ 24

4.7.4.

MEDA........................................................................................................ 24

5.

Financing the TEN : Other issues............................................................................... 25

5.1. Amendment of the TEN Financial Regulation ...................................................... 25

5.2.

Promoting Public / Private partnerships (PPP)...................................................... 26

5.2.1.

Follow-up to the Kinnock High-Level Group ............................................. 26

5.2.2.

Public procurement..................................................................................... 26

6.

Reports, Communications and Evaluation.................................................................. 27

6.1. Reports and Communication ................................................................................ 27

6.1.1.

First report on high-speed train interoperability .......................................... 27

6.1.2.

Galileo ....................................................................................................... 27

6.1.3.

Commission Communication on the development of EURO-ISDN ............ 27

3

6.2. Evaluation............................................................................................................ 27

6.2.1.

Energy........................................................................................................ 27

6.2.2.

Telecommunications................................................................................... 28

6.2.3.

Transport.................................................................................................... 29

7.

External Relations...................................................................................................... 30

7.1. Energy ................................................................................................................. 30

7.2. Telecommunications ............................................................................................ 30

7.3. Transport ............................................................................................................. 31

8.

Research and Development........................................................................................ 32

LIST OF ANNEXES ........................................................................................................... 33

4

1.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : AN OVERVIEW OF TEN IN 1999

The Commission is submitting the "Trans-European Networks (TEN) 1999 Annual
Report" to the European Parliament,
the Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of Regions pursuant to Article 16 of Regulation
n°2236/95 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in
the field of Trans-European Networks.

the Council,

As far as TEN are concerned, 1999 was a pivotal year, marked above all by the
modification by the European Parliament and the Council of the TEN financial
regulation, by their approval of a EUR 4 600 million financial framework for the
period 2000-2006 and by the setting up of ISPA with a budget of EUR 520 million
per year for major transport infrastructure works in the central and eastern Europe
applicant countries for the period 2000-2006. But 1999 also saw steady progress
across the whole sector of trans-European networks and the emergence of Galileo as
one of the most significant TEN projects.

• Concrete progress on individual projects of common interest :

Most of the individual projects of common interest continued to make satisfactory
progress. Some projects were completed and others became operational.

• Guidelines and other legal aspects :

On 12 July 1999 the European Parliament and the Council adopted the second phase
of the IDA programme - Interchange of Data between Administrations (a list of
common abbreviations is to be found in Annex 1).

On 29 July the European Parliament and Council updated the list of TEN energy
projects of common interest, adding 15 new projects and modifying four existing
ones.

On 10 December the Council came to a political agreement on a "rail infrastructure
package", including a proposed trans-European Freight Transport Network.

• Financing

As mentioned above, on 19 July the European Parliament and Council adopted
modifications to the TEN financial regulation,
including a EUR 4 600 million
financial framework for the period 2000-2006.

• Reports and reviews

On 10 February 1999, the Commission adopted a Communication entitled "Galileo –
involving Europe in the next generation of satellite navigation services", drawing
conclusions from the work done in the preceding year.

The Commission received an independent external evaluation of its financial support
for transport projects.

In the course of the year the Commission had carried out by independent experts a
mid-term evaluation of the TEN energy programme.

5

On 10 September the Commission published its first report on the implementation
and impact of the high-speed train (HST) interoperability directive of 1996.

• Enlargement and external relations

In the framework of "Agenda 2000" the European Parliament and Council
established ISPA – Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession – and
enhanced it with EUR 7 000 million for the period 2000-2006. Approximately 50%
of this money will help finance transport infrastructure in the candidate countries.

The Memorandum of Understanding for the development of Corridor IV was signed
by the Ministers of Transport of the participating countries in May 1999.

The Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment (TINA) final report was published in
October 1999, bringing to an end the Commission's fact-finding mission to identify
the necessary components for the future Trans-European Transport Network on the
territory of 11 applicant countries for accession.

6

2.

PROGRESS ACHIEVED ON SPECIFIC PROJECTS

2.1.

Energy

During the period 1995-99, decisive progress has been made on seven of the ten
priority projects listed by the Essen European Council in December 1994. A list of
all projects financed during this period by the TEN budget line is to be found in
Annex II.

The principal sections of the five gas projects became operational during this period.
This involves the principal gas pipelines Algeria - Morocco - Spain and Russia -
Bielorussia - Poland - HAVE (Phase 1) and the new gas networks in Greece, in
Portugal and in the south and the west of Spain. The completion of the last sections is
planned for first half of 2000.

As regards the five electric projects, the situation is less favourable. One project
became operational (connection between northern Portugal and Spain) and a second
project is in the active construction phase (the Italy - Greece interconnection). The
three other projects have not overcome the difficulties facing them as regards
administrative authorisations (for the France – Italy and France – Spain projects) or
as regards viability/financing (for the connection between eastern and western
Denmark).

2.2.

Telecommunications

Of the 80 TEN-ISDN-Telecom projects for 1999, 35 were completed by the end of
the year. In addition there were 28 projects co-funded by TEN-Telecom, as part of
joint-calls in the areas of multimedia and tourism SMEs. On the whole they were
progressing satisfactorily. Technical reviews of a large number of projects were
carried out with the help of independent experts.

The two projects on support and co-ordination measures were instrumental in making
TEN-Telecom more visible and transparent, attracting new constituencies to the
programme and contributing to the submission of better project proposals.

The status of the projects, including the reviews, is shown in Annex III. For further
details on the projects and the support and accompanying measures see the regularly
updated TEN-telecom web-site: www.ispo.cec.be/tentelecom

2.3.

Transport

Steady progress has been made on all of the 14 "specific" transport projects
identified by the Essen European Council. Special mention should be made to the
Ø
completion of the final section of the
resund Fixed Link between Sweden and
Denmark on 14 August, though commercial operation will not begin until 2000.
Details on all 14 projects are to be found in Annex IV.

The "Galileo" satellite navigation project emerged in 1999 as a key component of the
TEN initiative, making use of significant resources from the space sector and the
Community's Research and Development activities (Fourth and Fifth Framework
Programmes)". An informal meeting of transport ministers and of finance ministers

7

in May confirmed Community support for the initial work. Discussions, with a view
to cooperation, began with the USA, Russia and other countries.

8

3.

TEN-RELATED LEGISLATION AND COMMITTEES

3.1.

Guidelines and related legislation

3.1.1.

Amendment of the TEN-Energy Guidelines

On 29 July the European Parliament and the Council updated the list of projects of
common interest in the energy field as laid down in Decision 1254/96/CE, adding 15
new projects (11 in the field of natural gas and four in that of electricity).

3.1.2.

Revision of the TEN-Telecom Work Programme and Guidelines

In accordance with the TEN-Telecom guidelines decision1, the Commission began
the process of preparing a revised work programme for the period 2000 to 2002. The
existing TEN-Telecom work programme was adopted in January 1998, and it is a
rolling plan for a 3 year period. The revision will take into account the evolving
needs and the rapid development of the information society, as well as the experience
gained in managing the programme during the last three years. The Commission
launched a consultation procedure with industry and will produce an updated version
which will be the basis for future open calls for proposals.

the end of 1999, and in accordance with the Guidelines Decision2,
At
the
Commission launched the procedure for the revision of Annex I of the guidelines. To
this end the Commission will carry out a study to assess the current content, scope
and modalities of the TEN-telecom guidelines and propose appropriate revisions
after consultations with the relevant national and industrial parties. The study will be
carried out by external experts. The relevant pre-information notice and the contract
notice were published in the Official Journal3. The study will be carried out during
April-September 2000.

3.1.3.

Adoption of IDA-2

On 12 July 1999 the European Parliament and the Council adopted the second phase
of the IDA (Interchange of Data between Administrations) programme. This
programme lays down a series of guidelines and establishes projects of common
interest concerning trans-European networks for the interchange of data between
administrations, and ensures interoperability of and access to these networks.

3.1.4.

Amendment of the TEN-Transport guidelines

After the opinion of the European Parliament
in first reading, the Commission
submitted an amendment to its proposal concerning seaports, inland waterway traffic
ports and intermodal terminals, as well as project N° 8 of Annex III.4 The Council
reached a political agreement on its joint position on the matter.

1

2

3

4

Decision 1336/97/EC of 17/6/97 (OJ L 183/12 of 11/7/97).
Article 14 stipulates that every three years the Commission shall submit a report on the implementation of
this Decision and together with this it shall submit appropriate proposals for the revision of annex I of this
Decision, on the basis of technical developments and experience gained.
OJ S series No 227 of 23 November 1999 and OJ S series No 13 of 20.January 2000.
COM (1999) 277 final of 17.6.1999.

9

3.1.5.

Interoperability of the TEN-Transport conventional rail networks

Following the Council conclusions at
the
Commission adopted on 25 November 1999 a Communication to the Council and to
Parliament on the integration of conventional rail transport, as well as a proposal for
trans-European
a directive concerning the interoperability of the conventional
railway system.

its meeting on 6 October 1999,

3.1.6.

Trans-European Rail Freight Network (TERFN)

In the context of the discussions in the Council in the second half of 1999 on the so-
called "infrastructure package",
the idea emerged of defining a network for
international freight services. This idea was developed into the Trans-European Rail
Freight Network (TERFN) which was introduced into the "package" by the Council
when it reached a political agreement on the proposal at
its meeting on 9-10
December. The Commission is of the opinion that the network created (i.e. the maps,
the list of ports and the other provisions) provides for a coherent approach for better
and more seamless freight transport operations. It welcomes very much the density of
the network.

It will be recalled that the "infrastructure package" consists of a proposal for a
Council directive amending Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the
Community's railways, a Council directive amending Directive 95/18/EC on the
licensing of railway undertakings and a proposal for a Council Directive on the
allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of
railway infrastructure and safety certification.

3.2.

TEN Guidelines committees

3.2.1.

Energy

The TEN-Energy Guidelines Committee did not meet in 1999.

3.2.2.

Telecommunications

The TEN-Telecom Guidelines Committee met three times during 1999. At its first
meeting on 15 January it delivered its opinion on the draft Commission decision
determining the content of a call for proposals in the field of trans-European
telecommunications networks validation studies and deployment projects in the areas
of generic services and of applications in education and training, culture, transport
and mobility, environment and emergency management, healthcare, city and regional
networks and applications and services for SMEs.

At its second meeting on July 15-16 the Committee discussed: the report to the
European Parliament on the 1998 exercise (required by annex I, paragraph 4 of the
guidelines); the scope and timetable for the revision of the TEN-Telecom work
programme; the TEN-ISDN guidelines evaluation (required by article 10 of these
guidelines);
the TEN-Telecom guidelines evaluation and revision, delivering in
particular its opinion on the outline terms of reference for the evaluation of the TEN-
Telecom action (in accordance with article 8(2) of these guidelines decision).

The last meeting of this Committee, of an informal nature, was held on 25 November
1999 in Helsinki. The main issues discussed were the draft revision of the TEN-

10

Telecom work programme, the results of the project reviews and the progress made
on the procedures for carrying out the TEN-Telecom intermediate evaluation.

3.2.3.

Transport

The committee responsible for helping the Commission in the revision of the
guidelines in the field of the trans-European transport network met on 5 November
1999. The main point on the agenda was the preparation of the report on the revision
of the guidelines pursuant to Article 21(1).

3.3.

TEN financial assistance committee

The TEN financial assistance committee met six times in the course of the year
("horizontal" once, "energy" once, "telecommunications" twice and "transport" three
times) and gave a favourable opinion on the commitment of EUR 5 467 million.
Details of its financing decisions are to be found below in section 4.1.

3.4.

Financial control

In the course of 1999 the Commission had an exchange of views with the TEN
Financial Assistance Committee in its "horizontal" and three sectorial configurations
on the practical arrangements for cooperation on financial control between the
Commission and the Member States. These discussions concerned Articles 8, 9 and
12 of the TEN Financial Regulation as regards establishing the agreement of the
Member State(s) concerned for applications for financial assistance, the financial
control measures to be operated by the Member States over the use of the funds
requested and their obligation to notify the Commission of the management and
control systems established to ensure the efficient implementation of projects and
studies and to make available to the Commission any appropriate national reports on
the control of projects.

There was general agreement that the situation varied from one sector to another, that
measures should be cost-effective and that
telecommunications needed special
treatment, as the sector had largely been privatised. The committee agreed that it
would be useful to hold interministerial discussions in the national capitals to finalise
positions which reflected the views of the authorities responsible for the three TEN
sectors. The Committee will discuss the issues again in 2000.

11

TABLE 1
Community financing of the TEN in 1999

(million ECU/EUR)

Secteur

Type of assistance

Instrument

1993-19955

19965

19975

19985

19995

Transport

Loans
Loan guarantees
Grants

Grants,
guarantees and co-financing of studies

subsidies,

interest

rate

loan

Energy

Loans
Guarantees
Grants and co-financing of studies

Telecommunications

Telematic Networks

NB: n.a. = not available

Loans
Guarantees
Financial contributions
Co-financing of feasibility and validation
studies
Grants

EIB6-7
EIF6-7
ERDF7-8
Cohesion Fund
TEN budget
700
the
(Of which
specific projects)
EIB6-7
EIF6-7
Structural Funds
TEN budget line
B5-71
EIB6-7
EIF6-7
Structural Funds
TEN budget line
B5-720
TEN budget line
B5-721

7 666
161
999
2 995
625

3 504
303
2 639
1 221
280

line B5-

14

362

211

1 822
220
764
12

4 295
175
295
45

1 176
270
1 265
9

1 626
9
173
16

4 943
55
527
1 251
352

211

854
4
277
24

4 415
71
n.a.
1 337
474

305

393
5
n.a.
19

5 977
266
n.a
444
497

266

174
0
355
29

1 880
276
n.a.
27

3 434
230
n.a.
28

2 126
123
3879
21

119

44

47

24

31

5

6

7

8

9

Money committed.
Signed contracts.
TEN and TEN-related projects.
Usually includes appropriations committed for the period 1996-1999.
TEN-related projects only.

12

4.

FINANCING THE TEN

Table 1 above gives an overall picture of Union financing of the TEN.

4.1.

TEN financial assistance Committee

4.1.1.

Energy

The TEN financial assistance committee met on 10 September and approved 28
feasibility and other studies for which the Commission proposed financial assistance
of EUR 28.8 million. The corresponding Commission decision was taken on 5
November. Further details are to be found in annex V.

Table 2 : TEN Energy Commitments

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Mio
Ecus

6,5

5,7

%

53

47

Electricity

Gas

TOTAL

12,2 100

Mio
Ecus

3,7

5,2

8,9

%

42

58

Mio
Ecus

9,2

15

%

38

62

Mio
Ecus

10,8

7,8

%

58

42

Mio
Euros

7,9

20,9

%

27,4

72,6

100

24,2

100

18,6

100

28,8

100

4.1.2.

Telecommunications

The TEN Financial Committee in its telecommunications composition met twice, on
January 15 and July 15-16.

At the January meeting it delivered its opinion on the draft Commission decision
granting Community aid to a second series of projects of common interest selected
from the 1998/2 call under the 1999 TEN-Telecom budget line.

During the July meeting the committee adopted a favourable opinion on granting
Community financial aid for projects selected under the 1999/1 call10, addressing the
promotion of generic services and applications. In total 53 proposals for validation
studies and deployment projects were received and evaluated, out of which 28 were
considered eligible for Community financial aid of EUR 20 526 million. Among the
28 proposals two were deployment projects. For budgetary reasons only the 17
highest ranked projects were retained for a Community support of EUR 14 042
million. Of the 11 remaining projects only a limited number was to be considered if
money remained after the commitment appropriations for the 17 projects had been
exhausted (e.g. projects abandoned, contract negotiations resulting in amounts lower
than those provided in the decision, or where additional appropriations were made

10

OJ No. C56/12, 26.2.199, p.28.

13

available by the budgetary authority). The list of the projects finally contracted after
successful negotiations is provided in annex VI.

4.1.3.

Transport

As regards transport, the TEN financial assistance committee held three meetings in
1999 and gave a favourable opinion on 106 projects and studies for which the
Commission proposed financial assistance totalling EUR 497,65 million (plus
additional EUR 1,85 million for technical support, in accordance with the budget
(or
commentary). Several of
complementary to) actions previously supported; Annex VII gives full details.

the actions chosen were a continuation of

The Commission received 226 requests for financial assistance, a few of them
relatively minor sums. The measures to limit financial assistance for transport
projects to a minimum of EUR 500 000 was broadly applied in 1999, and helped
successfully to reduce the number of decisions to 106.

As can be seen from Table 3, the Commission has continued to concentrate the
greater part of its available resources (58%) on the 14 specific “Essen” projects
including rail traffic management. The proportion given to traffic management
projects other than ERTMS (9%) has decreased relatively as compared to the years
before.

Transport : Table 3 : Project categories

Support 1999

%

(Million EUR)

1999

1998

14 specific projects confirmed by the Essen
European Council
(includes EUR 22.8
million for rail traffic management)

Traffic management (all modes except rail)

Other important projects of common interest
(other than the 14 specific projects)

TOTAL

288

45

164

497

58

9

33

64

11

25

100

100

From the point of view of the forms of intervention, table 4 shows that in 1999 the
share of interest rate rebates increased slightly compared to 1998, while the
feasibility studies/technical support measures continues to decline. This is due to the
fact that most of the 14 specific projects are now entering the construction phase,
after the study phase has been completed.

14

Transport : Table 4 : Form of Intervention

Support 1999

%

Million EUR

1999

1998

Feasibility studies/Technical support measures

Direct grants

Interest rate rebates

TOTAL

139

288

70

497

28

58

14

100

47

40

13

100

Transport : Table 5 : Transport modes

As can be seen from Table 5, more than 60% of the Union spending on transport
under Regulation 2236/95 in 1999 continued to be allocated to rail projects (64%).
Road projects received 17% and Traffic management projects 9% of the 1999 budget
for TEN-transport.

Support 1999

%

Million EUR

1999

1998

Rail (including traffic management)

Road

Inland waterways

Sea/Ports

Airports

Traffic management (all modes except rail)

318

86

18

3

29

43

64

17

4

1

5

9

TOTAL

497

100

66

13

2

2

6

11

100

4.2.

IDA AND EDICOM

The IDA projects (sectoral and horizontal actions) and EDICOM projects are
financed independently of the TEN financial assistance regulation, but mention is
made of them here for the sake of completeness. In 1999 the Commission approved
financial contributions of EUR 24 million for the various actions supported by IDA
and EUR 7 million for EDICOM.

15

4.3.

Structural Funds

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund are by
far the main source of Union grants for TEN projects.

4.3.1.

ERDF

In 1999 most of the remaining funding programmed for the period 1994-1999 was
committed in the national and regional ERDF programmes. This data, however, is as
yet only partially available. The most important financing decisions were made in the
Greek programmes, in particular regarding the PATHE and EGNATIA motorway-
systems, but also for the Rio Anthirio bridge. Table 6 below details total ERDF
funding in the transport sector between 1994 and 1999. More detailed tables by
transport mode are to be found in annex VIII.

It is not easy to identify exactly the amount of money invested in TEN projects
through the ERDF. There are various reasons for this. First of all it is due to the
ERDF multiannual programme approach, as opposed to the annual funding of
individual projects approach of the TEN Financial Assistance Committee or of the
Cohesion Fund. Another important reason lies in the ERDF's decentralised structure :
much of its funding is spent via national or regional authorities and the details
become available only after a certain lapse of time. Furthermore, ERDF financing of
TEN infrastructure is usually part of larger transport programmes and national
authorities do not always identify what exactly corresponds to TEN. A final
consideration to bear in mind is that, again because of the multiannual "programme"
approach, most of the monies are committed in the early years, with a consequent
tailing off towards the end of the programme period. For all of these reasons, detailed
and accurate figures for ERDF spending on TEN projects are not available at present.

Table 6 : Total ERDF financing for TEN-transports 1994-99

Programmed ERDF
contribution 1994-99
(million EUR)
period 1994 - 99

6 045,1(1)

1 163,2
364,5
1 095,0
708,2
123,8
129,0

287,0
21,0

79,3
7,4
-

SPAIN

GREECE
IRELAND
ITALY
PORTUGAL
UK
GERMANY
FRANCE

Objective 1

Objective 2

BELGIUM
FINLAND
TOTAL

(Provisional figures)

Commitments up
to 1999
(million EUR)

Commitments
In 1999
(million EUR)
1999

3614,0

1 623,5
366,0
1 095,0
629,8
-
-
-

21,0

-
3,7
7 353,0

16

Ref./Obs.

-

(1) figure covering all
transport financing

749,3
99,0
312,3
11,3
0,0
0,0
-

21,0

No information available

- No information available
-
1 192,9

4.3.2. Cohesion Fund

Table 7 below shows the commitments made by the Cohesion Fund to TEN projects
in each of the four beneficiary member states since 1993. The figures indicate
commitments for new projects approved in 1999 as well as annual instalments of
assistance to projects approved in previous years.

Table 7 : Cohesion Fund TEN Financing in 1999

Commitments up

Commitments in 1999

to 1999

(million EUR)

(million EUR)

4 605,5

1 534,5

748,3

1 446,0
8 334,3

188,1

160,4

96,2

0,0
444,7

SPAIN

GREECE

IRELAND

PORTUGAL

TOTAL

In general terms, the strategy pursued by the Cohesion Fund has been guided by the
main concern of ensuring an appropriate linkage to Trans-European Transport
Networks and improving the overall efficiency of transport systems in those
countries that benefit from the Fund. In the period 1993-1999, the Cohesion Fund
concentrated its efforts in making a substantial contribution to the national transport
infrastructure in line with the objectives of the Community’s guidelines for the
development of the Trans-European Networks.

Table 8 below shows the total commitments made by the Cohesion Fund to TEN
projects from 1993 until 1999. For the four beneficiaries countries a total of EUR 8.3
billion has been committed to projects identified as TEN, of which slightly more that
half (56%) has been committed to road projects and 34% to railways. Since the first
Cohesion Fund period finished in 1999, a short description of what has been
achieved in each beneficiary country is given below.

17

Table 8 : Cohesion Fund TEN financing by country/mode 1993-1999

Roads

Railways

Airports

Ports

Other

TOTAL

MECU %

MECU %

MECU %

MECU %

MECU %

MECU %

Spain

2608,0

56,8

1858,0

40,5

73,0

1,6

28,0

Portugal

856,3

59,2

334,0

23,1

159,9

11,1

95,8

Greece

680,3

44,3

484,4

31,6

259,8

16,9

77,6

Ireland

559,5

74,8

141,7

18,9

3,2

0,4

38,5

0,6

6,6

5,1

5,1

25,0

0,0

32,4

5,4

TOTAL

4704,1

56,5

2818,1

33,9

495,9

6,0

239,9

2,9

62,8

0,5

0,0

2,1

0,7

0,8

4592,0 55,2

1446,0 17,4

1534,5 18,4

748,3

9,0

8320,8

In Spain, a total of EUR 4.6 billion of assistance was committed representing 55%
of the total allocation for the four beneficiaries countries.

The investments in roads and motorways have reflected the need to complete and
upgrade the extensive Spanish main road system in response to the rapid growth of
road traffic. All the projects supported by the Cohesion Fund aim to meet the
objectives of the TEN road network. These include: the completion of the most
heavily used motorway corridors, the connection of outlying regions with the major
centres of economic activity, a reduction in the excessively radial structure of the
Spanish road network, the relief of urban congestion and the integration of the
Spanish road network with its neighbours. As a result the main road projects in
Spain have been the following: Rías Bajas motorway, Madrid Ring Road M40,
Madrid-Granada motorway, Zaragora-Huesca-Somport-France motorway, Madrid-
Valencia motorway, Costa Cantábrica motorway and the Trans-Catalonia highway.

In the railways sector, the Cohesion Fund has contributed to the financing of the
main priorities identified in the “Plan Director de Infraestructuras 1993-2007” when
they related to the development of the Trans-European Transport Network. The main
projects were the following: upgrading to 200/220 kph the Mediterranean Corridor
(Valencia-Tarragona-Barcelona)
the
modernisation of the conventional rail system and the building of the new high-speed
line Madrid-Barcelona-French Border.

the Madrid-Valencia

Corridor,

and

In Portugal, the Cohesion Fund assistance totalled EUR 1,4 billion. A major part of
the assistance was devoted to road projects allowing the completion of the corridors
the
Lisbon/La Coruña
Lisbon/Valladolid road axis. High priority was also given to the removal of capacity
bottlenecks and the reduction of congestion in the urban areas of Lisbon and Porto by
providing finance to widen motorways, to construct the Lisbon inner and outer ring
roads, the bridge over the Tagus and the “Freixo” bridge.

and Lisbon/Madrid

construction

faster

and

of

In the rail sector, assistance was provided to support the major effort the Portuguese
authorities are making to modernise two railway lines (towards the North and Beira
Alta) of strategic importance to Portugal, both of which form an integral part of the
rail TEN.

18

In sea transport, Cohesion Fund assistance has gone to investments improving the
links between the ports and the other modes and to promoting port services and
infrastructures in the main Portuguese ports of Leixões, Lisbon, Setúbal and Sines.

In the airport sector, only one project was assisted by the Fund - Funchal airport on
Madeira - in order to increase accessibility to this ultraperipheral region.

In Greece a total of EUR 1.5 billion of assistance has been committed representing
18,4% of the total allocation for the four beneficiary countries.

The commitments for the Essen project no 7 “Pathe-via Egnatia” in 1999 were EUR
82,61 million and for otherTEN motorways EUR 10 million. The commitments for
this project concern:

“Pathe”: construction of a new section of the underground passing through the urban
area of the town of Katerini and different complementary contracts for the by-pass of
Patras, Skotina-Katerini, Rahes-Pelasgia sections.

“Via Egnatia”: construction of the Asprovalta-Strimonas section about 22 km in
length.

The main actions in the railway sector are concentrated in the projects Evangelismos-
Leptokarya, Thessaloniki-Alexandroupolis, Athens-Korinthos, Axios
the
Piraeus-Athens-Thessaloniki line, Paleofarsalos-Kalambaka, the Thriassio complex
and other connecting lines to the network and the port of Piraeus.

river,

In Ireland Cohesion Fund investment has been concentrated on the primary national
that roads investment
road network focusing on priority TEN routes. The fact
accounted for 75% of all transport investment, higher that any of the other Cohesion
Fund beneficiaries, was justified by the low standard of even major routes. In 1996
Ireland was by far the most poorly endowed Member State as measured by motorway
network in an EU 15 index. Also roads are by far the primary mode of internal
transport (accounting for 96% of passenger and 90% of freight traffic). The major
routes funded have included; M1 - Dublin to the border towards Belfast; M50 -
Dublin Ring Road; N7-8 - Dublin -Cork/Limerick and N4 Dublin - Sligo.

In the rail sector funding was given to the Dublin-Belfast and Dublin-Cork lines (part
of Essen Priority Project No 9) covering signalling improvement and replacement of
old jointed tracks with continuous welded rail. Apart from this line, track and
signalling replacement was funded on lines with the highest actual or potential
traffic. The extension of the DART electrified rail network north and south of
Dublin City to the outer suburbs was also assisted as there are more daily passengers
on the suburban rail network in Dublin than on the rest of the network combined.

In the ports sector assistance was granted to infrastructure improvements in the four
largest ports; Dublin, Cork, Rosslare and Waterford. The aim was to drive down cost
by increasing throughput and thereby increasing competition. This policy was
successful with port charges per container falling by over 15% in Dublin and Cork
since 1995. With the improvement of the economic environment for the port
managing authorities capital investments later in the period were undertaken without
further Cohesion Fund support.

19

4.4.

European Investment Bank (EIB) loans

The development of large infrastructure of common interest, of which the Trans-
European Network constitutes the main part, remains one of the EIB’s priority
objectives. In 1999, the EIB’s Board of Directors approved a total of EUR 7 341
million in favour of TEN and related projects in the Union. Finance contract
signatures reached EUR 8 277 million, representing over 30% of the Bank’s activity
in the Member States. Since 1993, the Bank has approved loans in favour of TEN for
a total of EUR 57 648 million and signed finance contracts for a cumulated EUR
44 319 million. The total investment cost of the corresponding projects is estimated
to EUR 183 billion.

EIB has taken a proactive role in the financial engineering of TEN projects most
notably in those which are based on PPPs. Some of the most significant examples of
these, which are also potential models for other projects in the future, are the
development of DBFO Road financing structures which have been applied in the
UK, Finland and Portugal. The Bank has also been to the fore in the development of
innovative financial instruments such as securitisation of receivables to finance
rolling stock and in the development of refinancing structures to enable commercial
financiers a defined exit from long-term financings.

EIB is also facilitating the cross-fertilisation of experience in the PPP financing of
infrastructure between the public and private sectors in the Member States as well as
facilitating the ability of major private-sector companies to invest in a series of PPPs
in different countries within the EU. The Engelberg Tunnel in Germany is an
example. This cross-fertilisation should improve the overall efficiency of capital as
well as reduce the cost of capital of those banking and capital markets instruments
used to finance them.

Loans approved by the EIB in 1999 for TEN in the transport sector reached EUR
4 807 million in the Union, resulting in a total of EUR 36722 million approved for
that sector to date. Finance contract signatures amounted to EUR 5 977 million in
1999 (EUR 4 415 million in 1998) which brings the total amount of signatures to
date to EUR 26 506 million. New loans approved were mainly for Portuguese DBFO
motorway projects in Beira and Algarve, the Malpensa Airport and the Patras Bypass
in Greece.

In Central and Eastern European Countries, the Bank’s signatures for projects on the
11 transport corridors approved by the Pan-European Transport Conferences of Crete
and Helsinki amounted to EUR 1 321 million.

In the energy sector, EUR 134 million of new loans were approved in 1999 for gas
and electricity TEN, for a cumulated amount since 1993 of EUR 6 054 million. In
1999 EUR 174 million were signed for the electrical interconnections Italy-Greece
and Spain-Morocco, the Portgas project in Portugal and the Ruhrgas Netra project in
Germany. This compares with EUR 393 million in 1998.

In 1999,
the EIB also provided new loans for European telecommunication
networks, not covered by the TEN Telecommunications guidelines, with EUR 2 400
million of new loan approvals and EUR 2 126 million of signatures (EUR 3 434
million in 1998). Finance contracts signed from 1993 onwards reach a total of EUR
12 985 million.

20

Under Article 21 of its statute the EIB consults the Commission in relation to
projects to be financed by the Bank. This arrangement is currently being reviewed
and the Commission will use this opportunity to seek to improve the consistency of
EIB financial assistance with Community policies in the fields of TEN and the
environment.

More detailed figures on EIB lending for TEN projects can be found in Annex IX.

Table 9 : EIB lending for TEN11 in the European Union

1993

1908

1346

367

207

1994

1939

1137

715

315

1005

2100

1995

3819

1603

910

523

839

1996

3505

1189

1415

695

1997

4943

1751

854

300

1998

4415

1142

393

100

1999

5977

1616

174

75

TOTAL

26 506

9784

4828

2215

1602

1880

3434

2126

12 986

3280

4754

5568

6522

7677

8242

8277

44 320

TRANSPORT

Essen Projects

ENERGY

Essen Projects

TELECOM12

TOTAL

Table 10 : EIB lending in the countries of central and eastern Europe

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

TRANSPORT

ENERGY

TELECOM

469

0

110

397

80

300

270

0

130

553

0

115

427

0

357

1998

1357

0

150

1999

1321

0

135

TOTAL

579

777

400

668

784

1507

1456

TOTAL

4794

80

1297

6171

4.5.

European Investment Fund (EIF) guarantees

At the end of 1999 the total portfolio of signed operations since the EIF’s inception,
net of loans repaid, stood at EUR 2784 million. Of this, TEN projects accounted for

11

12

EIB lending refers to finance contracts signed.
These projects for telecommunications physical
guidelines but can be considered as being TEN related.

infrastructure are not covered by the TEN-Telecom

21

EUR 1918 million, corresponding to 69% of the total (transport 36%, energy 29%
and telecommunications 35%).

Overall EIF signatures for 1999 amounted to EUR 456.1 million of which EUR
406.6 million were related to guarantees and EUR 49.5 million related to equity. Of
the total of guarantees, EUR 388.8 million (95%) were for TEN projects, including
EUR 265.8 million for transport projects, in Germany, Portugal and the UK and
EUR 123.1 million for telecom projects in Belgium, Hungary, Poland and Ireland.
Details of these operations are to be found in Annex X.

Since the creation of the EIF, TEN operations have been guaranteed in ten member
states (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal,
Spain, UK) and outside the EU, in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Norwegian
sector of the North Sea.

Table 11 : EIF loan guarantees for TEN projects

(signed operations in MEUR)

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

1994-1999

75.6

207.7

156.1

85.2

11.9

19.4

302.6

270.2

55.0

3.8

72.0

4.5

256.3

-

9.3

277.8

235.0

104.0

846.7

498.1

801.6

439.4

116.5

582.1

336.6

311.5

360.3

2146.4

TRANSPORT

ENERGY

TELECOM

TOTAL

4.6.

Member States' financing

Union financing of TEN represents in most cases a small proportion of the total cost,
except for some projects in the "cohesion" countries. The greater part of the funding
comes either from the public authorities of the Member States or, especially in the
energy and telecommunications sectors, from the private sector. Exact or meaningful
figures about Member States' expenditure on TEN are hard to come by.

4.7.

Financing infrastructure in third countries

4.7.1.

ISPA

On 21 June 1999 the Council adopted Regulation 1267/99 establishing an instrument
for structural policies for pre-accession (ISPA). For the period 2000-2006 ISPA will
provide financial assistance of around EUR 520 million per year for transport
infrastructure projects in the 10 CEEC applicant countries. Are eligible for support
projects which promote sustainable mobility and in particular projects of common
interest and those which would enable the beneficiary countries to comply with the
objectives of
interconnection and
interoperability of national networks among themselves and with the trans-European
networks, together with access to such networks. ISPA will follow a project-based
approach broadly similar to the Cohesion Fund, given the similarity of objectives.

the accession partnerships. That

includes

22

Aid under ISPA is restricted to projects of sufficient scale to have a significant
impact; the total cost of each measure will normally be at least EUR 5 million.
Community assistance may take the form of non-repayable or repayable grants of up
to 75% (85% in exceptional cases) of the total public expenditure. Table 12 below
gives the indicative allocation of ISPA aid among the applicant countries based on
population, per capita GDP and surface area criteria (see also 7.3).

Table 12 : Basic data on applicant countries and indicative ISPA allocation

Country

Surface area
(km2)

Population in 1997
(thousand)

Index of GDP*
per inhabitant
(average = 100)

Indicative
allocation as a
percentage of
the total

BG

CZ

EE/

HU

LV

LT

PL

RO

SK

SI

Bulgaria

111 062

Czech Republic

Estonia

Hungary

Latvia

Lithuania

Poland

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

78 864

43 431

93 030

64 589

65 300

312 685

238 391

49 035

20 256

8 312

10 304

1 458

10 155

2 469

3 706

38 660

22 546

5 383

1 986

Total

1 076 643

104 979

Source: Eurostat

Note: * based on the average of 1995-1997

67

8.0 – 12.0

166

5.5 – 8.0

90

2.0 – 3.5

124

7.0 – 10.0

67

76

91

84

3.5 – 5.5

4.0 – 6.0

30.0 – 37.0

20.0 – 26.0

116

3.5 – 5.5

1.0 – 2.0

175

100

4.7.2.

PHARE

Following the revision of PHARE's investment strategy for Central Europe, a Large
Scale Infrastructure Facility (LSIF) was created for the years 1998 and 1999,
providing funds at a rate of <=25% of total project costs for transport and
environment projects with a maximum value of EUR 250 million. This facility
included also a Project Preparation Facility (PPF) devoting EUR 25 million to
studies or design work which are required to prepare projects for construction. This
facility, in particular, has been used to prepare projects for ISPA financing. As from

23

the year 2000 all Community financial assistance for transport infrastructure on the
main corridors in the CEEC will be channeled through ISPA (see above).

4.7.3.

TACIS

Improving infrastructure links with the New Independent States (NIS) is one of the
objectives of the TACIS programme, which can now spend up to 10% of its annual
budget on investment, including small-scale infrastructure projects, in the context of
cross border co-operation.

4.7.4. MEDA

Spending by the MEDA programme to link better the countries of the Mediterranean
Basin to the Union is at present marginal, but very useful, being limited to a small
number of feasibility studies (cf., for example, the Eumedis project mentioned in 7.2
below).

24

5.

FINANCING THE TEN : OTHER ISSUES

5.1.

Amendment of the TEN Financial Regulation

As part of the Agenda 2000 package the European Parliament and the Council agreed
in June 1999 on amending the TEN financial regulation EC No 2236/95 laying down
general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-
European networks.

The amended financial regulation13 includes a financial framework for the period
2000-2006 of EUR 4 600 million for all three TEN sectors. Of the EUR 4 600
million approximately EUR 4 170 million will be allocated to transport projects,
EUR 155 million to energy projects and EUR 275 million to telecommunication
projects.

The EUR 4,6 billion agreed upon is a doubling of the EUR 2.3 billion budget for the
period 1995-99. This increase will help speed up the implementation of the trans-
European networks. The Union will be able to make a considerable contribution to
the construction of the 14 specific projects identified in Essen, which for the main
part are now entering into the building phase. Also, European Intelligent Transport
Systems like ERTMS (European Rail Telematics Management System) which
increase the interoperability between the European rail systems and the Galileo
project will be developed further with substantial help from the TEN budget line in
the coming period.

The new TEN financial regulation also includes the possibility for the Commission
to establish Multi-annual Indicative Programmes (MIP), which is a major step
forward as an appropriate instrument for providing long-term financing for long-term
projects. The MIP, which gives the project promoters an indication of the level of
future support, is particularly useful for the very big infrastructure projects in the
transport sector and for private-public partnership projects.

The revised regulation also opens up the possibility to invest initially up to 1% of the
TEN budget line in risk-capital funds, with the aim of catalysing the development of
such funds and consequently gaining access to the potentially very large resources of
long-term funding from pension funds and insurance companies for the financing of
TEN infrastructure projects. The risk capital will be especially interesting for public-
private partnership projects.

Another improvement included in the new financial regulation is the possibility as
from 2003 to increase the support level from the normal 10% to 20% for satellite
in order to
is essential
navigation projects including Galileo. That component
demonstrate that this vital genuinely European project can be financed.

13

EC No. 1655/99 of 19 July 1999.

25

5.2.

Promoting Public / Private partnerships (PPP)

5.2.1.

Follow-up to the Kinnock High-Level Group

To follow-up the recommendations of the High-Level group on public-private
partnerships for trans-European transport networks projects, which reported in May
1997, the Commission, in co-operation with the Member States, took forward the
results of the study it had commissioned on the role of equity in TEN projects. It also
hosted a
information on successful public-private
partnerships in a number of major TEN projects, in particular in relation to project
authorities in December 1999.

to disseminate

seminar

5.2.2.

Public procurement

In April 1999 the Commission adopted a draft interpretative communication on
concessions and public procurement rules and asked interested parties to submit their
comments. In this document the Commission set out its first thoughts on concessions
and similar forms of public-private partnership. In the introductory part specific
reference is made to the Commission’s Communication on public-private
partnerships in trans-European Transport Network projects of 199714 and the
Commission’s commitment to promote this type of partnerships.

As to concessions in the transport sector, it stated that if the concession is granted by
entities not operating in transport it falls (a) within the rules and principles of the
Treaty (such as non-discrimination, equality of treatment,
transparency, mutual
recognition and proportionality) if it is a service concession and (b) within the rules
of Treaty and those of Directive 93/37/EEC on public works contracts if it is a works
concession. For concessions granted by entities operating in the sector of transport,
the above mentioned rules of the Treaty apply.

Following the requests made in a great number of contributions,
the final
communication focuses on such public-private partnerships which may be analysed
as concessions within the meaning of Community law15. This communication
addresses some of the issues relevant in the field of TEN projects.

As to the need to allow “technical dialogue” during the conception phase in TEN
projects, the Commission’s communication on public procurement16, published in
March 1998, stated that
the Commission would propose amendments to the
Directives with a view to allow more dialogue in the course of procurement
procedures.

14

15

16

COM (97)453 final of 10.9.1997.
JOCE C 121/2, 19/04/2000.
COM (98)143 Commission communication: Public procurement in the European Union.

26

6.

REPORTS, COMMUNICATIONS AND EVALUATION

6.1.

Reports and Communication

6.1.1.

First report on high-speed train interoperability

The Commission adopted on 10 September 1999 the first
report on the
implementation and the effects of Directive 96/48/EC concerning the interoperability
of the high-speed trans-European railway system17.

6.1.2. Galileo

On 10 February 1999, the Commission adopted a Communication entitled "Galileo –
involving Europe in the next generation of satellite navigation services", drawing
conclusions from the work done in the preceding year.

6.1.3. Commission Communication on the development of EURO-ISDN

At the end of 1999 and in accordance with article 10 of Decision 2717/95/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 9 November 1995, the Commission
prepared a Communication giving an overall evaluation of the Guidelines for the
development of EURO-ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) as a trans-
European Network (TEN-ISDN). In order to address the requirement of the
aforementioned article, the Commission had previously carried out two studies with
the support of external experts:

- a study on the status of EURO-ISDN in the European Union in 1997-1998
(completed in June 1998) and

- an intermediate evaluation of the action of development of trans-European
telecommunications networks carried out during the period 1993-1997 within the
framework of the Euro-ISDN guidelines (completed in November 1998).

6.2.

Evaluation

In the context of its “SEM (Sound and efficient management) 2000” programme the
Commission attaches high priority to evaluating its actions.

6.2.1.

Energy

In the course of the year independent experts carried out for the Commission a mid-
term evaluation of the TEN energy programme.

17

COM (1999) 414 final.

27

6.2.2.

Telecommunications

The review of the TEN-Telecom projects

In total 39 projects were reviewed in 1999 (see annex III), of which 28 were
reviewed in November. The latter were projects that started on 1 January 1999
following the 1998 calls for proposals.

The first aim of the reviews was to make a technical assessment of the work carried
out in order to ascertain whether the projects were progressing in accordance with
their contractual commitments. This assessment concluded that the projects were, as
a whole, proceeding in a satisfactory manner
towards achieving their stated
objectives.

The second aim of the reviews was to demonstrate the contribution of these projects
to the achievement of the overall objectives of the TEN-Telecom action, namely:
societal impact, competitiveness, strengthening the internal market, cohesion and
developing new growth–area activities (job creation) as laid down in the TEN-
Telecom guidelines and subsequently in the TEN-Telecom work program. On the
whole the projects demonstrated a comprehensive level of achievement over a range
of criteria. Furthermore, the results of the reviews have shown that the achievement
of the TEN-Telecom objectives and the technical performance of the projects was
correlated.

The review of the multimedia joint-call projects

The Commission reviewed in October 1999 the 13 projects of the Educational
Multimedia Task Force18 co-funded by TEN-Telecom.

The first aim was to assess the technical progress achieved by these projects
compared to their contractual commitments and also, for the first time, the degree to
which they were meeting the objectives of the TEN-Telecom action. The general
conclusion drawn was that most of the projects reviewed had accomplished a
considerable amount of work, some with remarkable results and others with potential
yet to be developed.

The second aim of the review was to determine the contribution of the projects to the
objectives of the TEN-ISDN/Telecom action (see the section above). This was an
assessment of the impact as intended and achieved and not a reflection of the quality
of the project.

The main achievement of these projects was in meeting the societal impact objective,
this being largely a result of well chosen user groups and clearly identified
established needs.

18

In December 1996, the Multimedia Task Force launched a joint call for proposals involving six European
programmes, with complementary objectives but with differing specific implementation modalities from
four Directorates General: Telematics Applications and Targeted Socio-economic research, supporting
research projects, TEN-Telecom action, supporting the deployment of telecommunications applications and
services, and SOCRATES and LEONARDO supporting education and training.

28

The intermediate evaluation of the TEN-Telecom action

In accordance with the requirements of article 14 of the Guidelines decision, the
Commission must carry out an intermediate evaluation of the TEN-Telecom action.
In addition, the Commission SEM2000 initiative requires a systematic evaluation of
all EU programmes. Having received a favourable opinion from the Guidelines
Committee (see also section 3.2.2 above) on the outline terms of reference the
Commission published a pre-information notice in the OJ19 with a view to
contracting external experts under the normal open tender procedures.

6.2.3.

Transport

The Commission organised an independent external evaluation of its financial
support for transport projects, which was delivered in 1999, and then communicated
to Member States and the European Parliament. On the basis of this evaluation, and
also one-off evaluations for specific sectors (notably ERTMS and Road Traffic
the Commission will prepare a plan to implement appropriate
Management),
recommendations. These concern project management, the setting of objectives and
performance indicators, and the improved integration of environmental aspects into
the project cycle, from appraisal to ex-post evaluation.

19

OJ No S 230 of 26/11/99.

29

7.

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

7.1.

Energy

The extension of the energy networks is vital, not only for the energy supply of the
European Union which will remain strongly dependent on external resources, in
particular
international cooperation and
development in general.

for oil and natural gas, but also for

The prospects for the enlargement of the European Union, confirmed in 1999, also
demonstrate the increasing need to connect the energy networks of the applicant
countries with those of the European Union.

The TEN-Energy Guidelines already identify a good number of gas or electric
connection projects which require work in applicant countries or non-Member
countries. The study of these projects, as well as the efforts to achieve energy
cooperation at regional level (in the areas of the Baltic, the Balkans, the Black Sea
and the Mediterranean) continued benefiting in 1999 from Community financial
support under the TEN-Energy programme (see Annex V - the list of the projects
funded in 1999), the Synergy programme and the horizontal assistance programmes
(PHARE, TACIS and MEDA).

7.2.

Telecommunications

Telecommunications infrastructure and its related new services and applications are
key factors for the socio-economic development and integration of the neighbouring
countries with those of the EU. Specifically, they can allow the central and eastern
European countries (CEECs) and the countries of the Mediterranean Basin to
modernise their economies and improve their prosperity.

In order to secure commercial financing sources for telecom development, a fair and
stable regulatory framework for the sector, well organised operating companies and
well-prepared investment proposals must be in place. In all cases, the pre-condition
for the successful development of the telecommunications sector is the adoption of
appropriate liberalisation and regulatory policies by the governments.

The first action to be taken by the EU is therefore to encourage the institutional
changes leading to the liberalisation of telecom services and the regulation and
monitoring of operations as well as to assist the regulatory reforms. In addition, there
is considerable scope for preparing the deployment of new telecommunications
applications and services with a high social and business value, based on experience
derived from the TEN-Telecom action in the Community as well as from the
Eumedis initiative under the MEDA programme.

Moreover, the Commission is considering improving the links between activities
supported by the EU instruments which should prepare the ground for EIB and other
IFIs loans.

In 1999 the European Commission signed a co-ordination agreement with the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The agreement aims at
providing financial support
to projects in the telecommunications sector in the
CEECs and New Independent States in specific circumstances. These will concern,

30

in particular, the setting up by these countries of a minimum regulatory framework.
In the case of applicants for joining the Union, the regulatory requirement entails full
compliance with the EU’s telecommunications acquis.

7.3.

Transport

The Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment (TINA) final report was published in
October 1999, bringing to an end the Commission's fact-finding mission to identify
the necessary components for the future Trans-European Transport Network on the
territory of 11 candidate countries for accession: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The transport network identified by the TINA process comprises the routes of ten
multi-modal Pan-European transport corridors, endorsed at the third Pan-European
Transport Conference in Helsinki in June 1997, on the territory of the applicant
countries, and additional network components selected on the basis of the TEN-
Transport Guidelines criteria of Decision N° 1692/96/EC. In its final report the
TINA Senior Officials Group suggests that the components of this network should be
considered as the necessary components for a future trans-European transport
network, in particular on the territory of the 10 applicant countries of central Europe.
In its recommendations the Senior Officials Group also suggests giving investment
priority to those components which complete the Pan-European transport corridors.

The TINA report shows the proposed network in a series of maps, based on detailed
information in the TINA database. Special analyses showing traffic forecasts, the
development of the network over time and its changing technical features, existing
and future capacity imbalances etc., are also included in the report.

In its present form, the network on the territory of the applicant countries comprises
18,683 km of roads, 20,924 km of railway lines, 4,052 km of inland waterways, 40
airports, 20 seaports, 58 river ports and 86 terminals. The ratio of network length to
surface area is generally significantly lower than inside the EU-15, while the ratio of
network length to population is generally of a similar order.

The estimated cost of constructing the network is EUR 92 billion (EUR 37 billion for
the railway network, EUR 44 billion for the road network, EUR 1,5 billion for the
inland waterways network, EUR 9,5 billion for network nodes such as airports, river
ports, seaports and other terminals).

About three-quarters of the cost for the rail and road components of the network
relate to implementing the Helsinki Pan-European Transport Corridors, which will be
given priority in the EU's financing schemes through ISPA and the EIB.

31

8.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

energy

several

and demonstration (1994-1998),

Under the Fourth Framework Programme of the European Community for research,
technological development
specific
programmes have included activities contributing to the development and the
implementation of the TEN policy, namely the Transport research programme, the
and
non-nuclear
and
communications
environmental dimensions of the TEN policy are contributing to the preparation of
the revision of the Community guidelines for the development of the transport
network. Moreover systems like the European global navigation satellite system
(GALILEO) and the European rail traffic management system (ERTMS), after a
development phase supported by the research programmes, are now or will be further
developed, validated and deployed with the financial support from the TEN budget.

programme
and
technologies. Projects

information
socio-economic

programmes
assess
to

the

on

Under the Fifth Framework Programme for research, technological development and
demonstration (1998-2002), several key actions on sustainable mobility and
intermodality, land transport and marine technologies, efficient energy systems and
services for the citizens have been initiated. The Community guidelines for the
development of
the trans-European transport network identify research and
development activities among the broad lines of measures. New activities under the
key action “sustainable mobility and intermodality” therefore include socio-
traffic and the associated socio-economic and
economic research to forecast
environmental
to improve the
impacts as well as technological development
infrastructure and their interfaces with transport means and the traffic management
systems. Furthermore, successful Information Society Technology research projects
can lead to market validation and business development under the TEN-Telecom
action.

policy

A pilot study performed by a cluster of
projects provided quantified forecasts of
the impacts of TEN-T infrastructure and
policies on European travel demand and
emissions in 2010. The results indicate
including
the
that
and
interoperability,
internalisation
costs
contributes
to attain EU
environmental goals. The study also
demonstrates the feasibility of a more
strategic
detailed
environment
assessment
to be used in the future
development of the TEN-T policy.

package
intermodality,

of
the most

external

32

The CODE-TEN project assessed the
feasibility of extending the TEN-T
towards CEEC/CIS countries for the 14
Helsinki corridors. It applied a scenario
approach in order to elaborate consistent
combining
‘images’
assumptions on GDP growth, European
integration and infrastructure planning.
Traffic forecasts and assignment were
performed.

future

the

of

all

different

The results indicate that a multimodal
network development is most beneficial
scenarios. The
under
relative benefits from rail come from
improved
pollution
situation whereas roads contribute most
to accessibility.

safety

and

air

LIST OF ANNEXES

For technical reasons the annexes are to be found
in
document SEC(2000)1113

Annex I :

List of abbreviations

Annex II :

Community Financial Support
Projects in the Energy Sector during the period of 1995 to 1999

for Trans-European Network

Annex III :

Progress achieved on specific TEN-ISDN / Telecom projects

Annex IV :

Annex V :

Annex VI :

Summary of Progress on the 14 "Specific" Transport Projects
identified by the Essen European Council

Trans-European Networks : Granting Community Financial Aid to
energy projects of Common Interest in 1999

TEN-Telecom projects financed in 1999 following the 1999 call for
proposals

Annex VII :

TEN-Transport Projects
Regulation 2236/95

/ Studies

financed in 1999 under

Annex VIII :

Major TEN Projects financed by the Regional and Cohesion Funds
up to end 1999

Annex IX :

Annex X :

EIB Loans
A : TEN–Energy B : TEN–Transport C : TEN–Telecom
EIF Guarantees in favour ofTEN signed during 1999

33

List of abbreviations

CEEC

Central and eastern European countries

DBFO

Design, build, finance and operate

ERDF

European Regional Development Fund

EIB

EIF

European Investment Bank

European Investment Fund

GNSS

Global navigational satellite system

GPS

HST

IDA

IFI

ISDN

ISPA

PPP

TEN

European positioning system

High speed train

Interchange of data between administration

International financial institutions

Integrated services digital network

Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession

Public / Private partnership

Trans-European-Network

TERFN

Trans-European Rail Freight Network

34