WRITTEN QUESTION E-0080/01 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Integration of Galicia into the European high-speed rail network over 2000-2006.
Date: 2001-01-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Spain, Structural Funds, competence of the Member States, cooperation agreement, high-speed transport, rail network, regions of Spain

18.9.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 261 E/37

(2001/C 261 E/037)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0080/01

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

(29 January 2001)

Subject: Integration of Galicia into the European high-speed rail network over 2000-2006

On 20 December 2000 the Galician regional government, represented by its President, and the Spanish
national government, represented by the Minister for Planning, signed a cooperation agreement, with the
participation of the Spanish state rail company RENFE, for construction and modernisation work for an
internal high-speed rail network in Galicia and the linking of that network to the European networks of
Spain and the European heartland (via Orense/Valladolid) and Portugal (again a high-speed link, connecting
the La Coruæa-Vigo coastal line to Oporto and Lisbon). The press reports stated that projects will be
submitted by the Spanish government with a view to obtaining the necessary Community funding, while
the Galician government insisted that the work should fall within the budget period 2000-2006. Yesterday,
two weeks later, the Minister for Planning signed another agreement, with the Presidents of the regional
governments of Murcia, the Valencian Community, Castile-La Mancha and Madrid, for the construction of
a high-speed rail
line linking Madrid to Cuenca, Albacete, Alicante, Murcia and Valencia, and it was
announced that certain stretches of this line, cofinanced by the EU, will be inaugurated as early as 2005.

Since one year of the period 2000-2006 (concerning the Cohesion Fund and the Structural Funds,
pursuant to the budget forecasts of Agenda 2000) has already passed, can the Commission finally state
which rail lines within the territory of the Spanish state will be cofinanced by the EU and may be expected
to be constructed within this seven-year period? Are the Galician high-speed links, as defined in the
agreement signed by the President of the regional government and the national Minister for Planning,
included in this EU cofinancing? Will construction work begin on the Galician high-speed network in the
first half of 2001, as announced by those authorities? Will the Galician high-speed network use the
international gauge?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(2 April 2001)

The selection of the projects to be part-financed by the Structural Funds under operational programmes
(OP) is a matter for the national authorities. This selection is notified to the Commission only during
programme monitoring and is made after adoption of the corresponding programming complement. At
this stage, the Commission is not in a position to express a view on the specific operations to be part-
financed under the (cid:145)Galicia(cid:146) OP in 2000-2006.

The initial selection of the projects submitted to the Commission for part-financing under the Cohesion
Fund is also a matter exclusively for the Member State. The Spanish Government regularly submits projects
to the Commission but has not so far made any request for assistance to part-finance a high-speed train
project in Galicia.

In accordance with Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 relating to the interoperability of the
trans-European high-speed rail system (1), the loading gauge, track gauge and space between the tracks of
planned new high-speed lines must be the same as those used on the European rail network.

(1) OJ L 235, 17.9.1996.