Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Trans-European Networks 2000 Annual Report {SEC(2002) 732}
Date: 2002-07-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, EU financing, energy transport, financial aid, project of common interest, report, statistics, telecommunications, trans-European network, transport policy

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 01.07.2002
COM(2002) 344 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 2000
ANNUAL REPORT

{SEC(2002) 732}

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

2.3.

3.

Executive Summary : An overview of TEN in 2000 ................................................... 5

Progress achieved on specific projects......................................................................... 5

Energy .......................................................................................................................... 5

Telecommunications .................................................................................................... 6

Transport ...................................................................................................................... 6

New directions and developments; legislation; TEN committees and financial control8

3.1.

New directions and developments ............................................................................... 8

3.1.1.

Interoperability of the TEN-Transport rail networks ................................................... 8

3.1.2.

Trans-European Rail Freight Network (TERFN) ........................................................ 8

3.1.3.

Energy infrastructure.................................................................................................... 8

3.2.

Legislation.................................................................................................................... 9

3.2.1. Amendment of TEN-Telecom Work Programme and Guidelines............................... 9

3.2.2. Amendment of transport guidelines ............................................................................. 9

3.3.

TEN Guidelines Committees and Financial Assistance Committees; Financial
Control ......................................................................................................................... 9

3.3.1.

Energy…………… .................................................................... ……………………..9

3.3.2.

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

3.3.3.

Transport .................................................................................................................... 10

3.3.4.

TEN financial assistance Committee ......................................................................... 11

3.3.5.

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

4.

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

4.1.

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

4.1.1.

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

4.1.2.

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

4.1.3.

Transport .................................................................................................................... 13

4.2.

4.3.

IDA............................................................................................................................. 15

Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund ......................................................................... 15

4.3.1.

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

4.3.2. Cohesion Fund ........................................................................................................... 16

4.4.

European Investment Bank (EIB) loans..................................................................... 17

2

4.5.

4.6.

4.7.

European Investment Fund (EIF) Guarantee Activity ............................................... 19

Member States' financing........................................................................................... 20

Financing infrastructure in third countries................................................................. 20

4.7.1.

PHARE....................................................................................................................... 20

4.7.2. CARDS ...................................................................................................................... 20

4.7.3.

TACIS ........................................................................................................................ 21

4.7.4. MEDA........................................................................................................................ 21

4.7.5.

ISPA ........................................................................................................................... 21

5.

5.1.

Financing the TEN: Other issues ............................................................................... 24

TEN Financial Regulation - setting up of a Multiannual Indicative Programme for
TEN-T (2001-2006) ................................................................................................... 24

6.

Communications, Evaluation, Financial control........................................................ 25

6.1.

Communications ........................................................................................................ 25

6.1.1. Commission Communication on the development of EURO-ISDN ......................... 25

6.2.

Evaluation .................................................................................................................. 25

6.2.1.

Telecommunications .................................................................................................. 26

6.2.2.

Transport .................................................................................................................... 27

7.

7.1.

7.2.

7.3.

8.

8.1.

8.2.

External Relations ...................................................................................................... 27

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

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

Transport .................................................................................................................... 28

Other Union Policies with a TEN Dimension............................................................ 29

Environment............................................................................................................... 29

Research and Development........................................................................................ 29

8.2.1.

Systems and services for citizens ( Key Action I–KAI) ............................................ 31

8.2.2. New Methods of work and electronic commerce (KA II) ......................................... 32

8.2.3. Multimedia content and tools (KA III) ...................................................................... 32

8.2.4.

Essential technologies and infrastructures (KA IV)................................................... 32

8.2.5. Research Networking ................................................................................................. 33

9.

Final considerations ................................................................................................... 33

ANNEX: SEC(2002)732

3

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 : Community financing of the TEN in 2000 ............................................................... 12

Table 2 : TEN Energy Commitments....................................................................................... 13

Table 3 : Transport - Project categories ................................................................................... 14

Table 4 : Transport - Form of Intervention .............................................................................. 14

Table 5 : Transport Modes ....................................................................................................... 15

Table 6 : Cohesion Fund TEN-T Financing by country........................................................... 16

Table 7 : Cohesion Fund TEN financing by country and mode, 2000, in % ........................... 17

Table 8 : EIB lending for TEN................................................................................................. 19

Table 9 : EIF loan guarantees for TEN projects....................................................................... 20

Table 10 : ISPA Funds in the transport sector 2000 ................................................................ 23

Table 11: Transport sector: Projects per TINA Corridor (funded in 2000) ............................. 24

4

1. 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : AN OVERVIEW OF TEN IN 2000

The Commission is submitting the "Trans-European Networks (TEN) 2000 Annual Report" to
the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the
Committee  of  Regions  pursuant  to  Article  16  of  Regulation  n°2236/95  as  amended  by
Regulation n° 1655/99 of the European Parliament and the Council, laying down general rules
for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of Trans-European Networks.

2000 saw the launching of the first  Multiannual  Indicative Programme (MIP) set  up  for  the
TEN-T under the TEN Financial Regulation, Council Regulation n° 2236/95.

The MIP is composed of the on-going  « Essen »  projects and the new priorities, namely the
Galileo project, the removal of bottlenecks on the TEN-T rail network, cross-border projects
and intelligent transport systems for the road and air systems.

Concrete progress on individual projects of common interest :

Details are given in section 2 and the annexes.

Most of the individual projects of common interest continued to make satisfactory progress.
Lists of specific projects are given in Annex III and IV.

Guidelines and other legal aspects :

On  16  November  2000  the  Commission  took  a  Decision  defining  the  specifications  of
projects of common interest identified in the sector of the Trans-European Energy Networks
(electricity  transmission,  gas  pipelines  and  storage)  in  Decision  N°  1254/96/EC  of  the
European Parliament and the Council.

Reports and reviews

The  Court  of  Auditors  published  a  special  report  No  9/2000,  concerning  TEN-
telecommunications, accompanied by Commission’s replies.1

The Commission adopted the e-Europe strategy, towards the implementation of which TEN-
telecom is asked to contribute.

Finance

For an overview of Community financing of the TEN in 2000, see Table 1 below.

2. 

PROGRESS ACHIEVED ON SPECIFIC PROJECTS

2.1. 

Energy

During the period 1995-2000, decisive  progress was  made  on  seven  among  the  ten
priority projects listed by the Essen European Council in December 1994.

1OJ C 166 of 15.6.2000

5

                                                
The principal sections of the five gas projects became operational during this period.
The  Algeria  -  Morocco  -  Spain  gas  pipeline  was  completed,  as  were  the  new  gas
networks  in  Greece,  in  Portugal  and  in  the  south  and  the  west  of  Spain.  The  first
phase  of  the  Yamal  -  EU  pipeline,  from  the  Russian  networks  to  the  EU  through
Bielorussia and Poland, was also completed.

As regards the five electricity projects, one became operational (connection between
northern of Portugal and Spain) and a second project entered the active construction
phase  (the  Italy  -  Greece  interconnection).  The  three  other  projects  have  not  yet
overcome  the  difficulties  facing  them  as  regards  administrative  authorisations  (for
the France – Italy and France – Spain projects) or as regards strategic decisions in the
new  liberalisation  framework  (for  the  connection  between  eastern  and  western
Denmark).

Other projects of common interest also progressed well. A list of all energy network
projects financed over this period from the TEN budget line is to be found at Annex
II.

2.2. 

Telecommunications

On  the  whole  the  projects  progressed  satisfactorily.  Among  the  TEN-ISDN  all  the
1996-  call  projects  and  all  but  one  of  the  1997  -call  projects  were  technically
completed. All the Teletourism projects (1997) and most of the Multimedia projects
(1997)  were  also  technically  completed.  A  large  number  of  the  projects  from  the
1998 and 1999 calls were technically completed.

Technical  reviews  of  most  of  the  projects  were  carried  out  with  the  help  of
independent  experts.  The  recommendations  of  the  reviews  were  adequately  taken
into account in the remaining work. Public presentations of some exemplary projects
were made in various investment forums and exhibitions, attracting the attention of
the public and private sectors.

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

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.europa.eu.int/tentelecom

2.3. 

Transport

Steady  progress  was  made  on  all  of  the  remaining  11  "specific"  transport  projects
from  the  14  identified  by  the  Essen  European  Council,  the  Øresund  Fixed  Link
between Sweden and Denmark having been commissioned in the Summer of 2000.
Details of all 14 projects are to be found in Annex IV.

Progress  has  been  made  on  other  projects  of  common  interest  supported  in  the
framework  of  TEN-T.  Further  to  that,  following  the  provisions  of  Regulation
n°1655/1999 of  the European Parliament  and  the  Council,  amending  Regulation  n°
2236/95, laying  down  general  rules  for  the  granting  of  Community  financial  aid  in
the  field  of  Trans-European  Networks,  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States

6

launched in 2000 the procedures for the establishment of the Multiannual Indicative
Programme 2001-2006 for the trans-European transport network (MIP).

The MIP is of particular importance to the transport sector for which an amount of
EUR 4,17 billion out of the total EUR 4,6 billion programmed for all 3 TEN sectors
in  the  framework  of  Agenda  2000,  has  been  earmarked.  The  multiannual
programming  of  Community  financial  aid  responds  to  the  particular  needs  of  large
transport infrastructure projects and  provides  for  more  efficient  management  of  the
TEN-T budget line.

For  the  preparation  of  the  2001  -  2006  MIP,  the  Commission  closely  co-operated
with  the  Member  States  and  convened  several  meetings  of  the  TEN-T  Financial
Assistance  Committee  during  the  year  2000.  At  its  meeting  of  18  December  2000,
the Committee delivered its positive opinion on the programme.

As a result of this procedure, the 2001 – 2006 MIP proposed an amount of EUR 2781
million. Besides continuing support to the still ongoing "Essen" projects which now
need a financial boost to ensure their timely completion, it focuses on the following
new  priorities:  the  Galileo  project,  the  removal  of  bottlenecks  on  the  TEN  railway
network, the construction of cross-border links within the Community and with third
countries (in particular  acceding  countries) and intelligent transport systems for  the
road  and  air  sectors.  The  strong  focus  of  the  programme  on  sustainable  mobility
objectives is reflected in the fact that almost 64% of the total support goes to rail and
that 95 % the funds concern rail, inland waterways and intelligent transport systems.

The GALILEO  project  of satellite  radionavigation  continued  in  its  definition  phase
and the European Council of Nice emphasised its strategic importance and the need
to continue with the successive development and validation phase. The costs of this
phase,  of  about  EUR  1.1  billion,  will  be  provided  entirely  by  public  funds
(Community  budget  and  European  Space  Agency).  In  the  light  of  the  above,  the
TEN-T  Financial  Committee  at  its  meeting  of  18  December  approved  the
participation of the GALILEO programme in the Multiannual Indicative Programme
(MIP) up to an indicative amount of support of EUR 550 million.

EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System), which  monitors the
performance of the existing GPS and Glonass systems and reports to users on their
performance, continued to receive TEN-T support in its critical design phase, while
the ESTB (EGNOS System Test Bed) has been providing a real EGNOS space signal
since February 2000.

Concrete results were achieved in the 5 Euro-regional initiatives aimed at deploying
Intelligent Transport Systems on the Trans-European Road Network. Data exchange,
traffic management and information services are becoming a reality across European
borders. Among other  examples,  data  exchange  was  implemented  between  Sweden
and  Denmark  via  the  Öresund  link  and  real  time  traffic  information  services  made
available  on  board  (via  RDS-TMC,  radio  Data  Systems  Channel),  Øbroadcast  in
Germany,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Southern  Finland,  France,  Spain,  Italy  and  the
Netherlands.

7

3. 

NEW  DIRECTIONS  AND  DEVELOPMENTS;  LEGISLATION;  TEN  COMMITTEES  AND
FINANCIAL CONTROL

3.1. 

New directions and developments

3.1.1. 

Interoperability of the TEN-Transport rail networks

In the field of High Speed Interoperability, work progressed well on the development
of  TSIs  under  Directive  96/48/EC;  in  particular,  the  Commission  submitted  in
November  2000,  to  the  Regulatory  Committee,  two  proposals  on  which  a  positive
opinion  was  given:  a  Commission  Decision  on  ERTMS  specifications  and  a
Commission Recommendation on basic parameters of the trans-European high speed
rail system.

Following the Council conclusions of 6 October 1999, the Commission had adopted
on 25 November 1999 a Communication to the Council and to the Parliament on the
integration  of  conventional  rail  transport,  as  well  as  a  proposal  for  a  directive
concerning  the  interoperability  of  the  conventional  trans-European  railway  system.
The EP adopted in May 2000 its first reading position on the proposed directive. The
Council adopted its Common Position on 10 November 2000; the Common Position
took into account the majority of the amendments proposed by the EP, thus opening
the way to a rapid adoption of the Directive.

3.1.2.  Trans-European Rail Freight Network (TERFN)

Following the political agreement reached by the Council on 9-10 December 1999 on
the infrastructure package, the co-decision procedure continued during the year 2000
and  ended  with  an  agreement  between  the  Council  and  the  Parliament.  The  main
outline  of  this  agreement  consists  in  opening  access  rights  for  international  rail
freight services.  At  a  first  step,  the  right  of  access  will  be  opened  up  in  2003  on  a
defined network (Trans-European Rail Freight Network) encompassing all the major
freight  lines.  At  a  second  stage,  access  rights  will  be  opened  up  on  the  rest  of  the
network  in  2008.  It  will  be  recalled  that  the  infrastructure  package  consisted  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.

3.1.3.  Energy infrastructure

In  its  Green  Paper  on  the  Security  of  Energy  Supply,  COM  (2000)  769  of  29
November  2000,  the  Commission  pointed  to  the  underdevelopment  of  the
transmission  infrastructure  as  a  factor  causing  the  slowing  of  the  integration  of
national markets and of limitation of security of energy supply. There was a need to
increase  the  capacity  available  on  existing  electricity  lines,  followed  by  the
construction of new lines as necessary, consideration being given to the formulation
of schemes to overcome obstacles to "projects of European interest". For gas, it was
also  necessary  to  remove  actual  or  potential  bottlenecks  by  identifying  new
interconnections  required.  This  process  of  interconnection  and  other  infrastructure
improvement would need to extend also to the applicant countries.

8

In  2001  the  Commission  prepared,  in  response  to  a  call  from  the  Stockholm
European Council, a Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on
European energy infrastructure. The purpose of the Communication was to assess in
more  depth  the  present  situation  with  regard  to  energy  infrastructure,  to  propose
actions  aimed  at  ensuring  its  efficient  use,  and  to  ensure  a  stable  and  favourable
regulatory regime for the provision of new infrastructure to meet growing demand, to
ensure political attention to energy infrastructure issues and to enhance the benefits
of the internal energy market.

In parallel to this Communication, the Commission proposed a revision of the TEN-
Energy  Guidelines  including  the  identification  of  priority  projects  of  European
interest.

3.2. 

Legislation

3.2.1.  Amendment of TEN-Telecom Work Programme and Guidelines

In accordance with the TEN-Telecom guidelines decision2, the Commission adopted
the revised TEN-telecom work programme for the period 2000 to 2002. The revision
took 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 new programme will be the basis for future open calls for proposals.

In  accordance  with  the  Guidelines  Decision3,  the  Commission  launched  the
procedure for the  revision  of  Annex  I  of  the  TEN-Telecom  guidelines.  To  this  end
the Commission launched a study, to assess the current content, scope and modalities
of  the  TEN-telecom  guidelines  and  propose,  after  consultation  of  the  relevant
national  and  industrial  parties,  appropriate  revisions.  The  study  was  carried  out  by
external  experts4  and  the  final  report  came  out  in  April  2001  (TEN  Telecom
Guidelines Status Review, RAND Report. April 2001).

3.2.2.  Amendment of transport guidelines

On  5  June  the  Council  adopted  a  common  position  on  the  proposal  to  amend
Decision  N°  1692/96  on  Community  guidelines  for  the  development  of  the  trans-
European transport networks (TEN-T) so as to include seaports and inland ports and
to amend a project in Annex III (Table I).

3.3. 

TEN  Guidelines  Committees  and  Financial  Assistance  Committees;  Financial
Control

3.3.1.  Energy

The TEN-Energy Guidelines Committee met  on 7 April  to  discuss the  exchange of
information on the progress of the projects of common interest (Doc. Committee on
TEN- Energy N° 2000/1); the draft Commission Decision defining the specification

2Decision 1336/97/EC of 17/7/97 (OJ L 183/12 of 11/6/97)
3Article 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.

4 OJ S series No 227 of 23 November 1999 and OJ S series No 13 of 20.January 2000

9

                                                
of  the  projects  of  common  interest  (Doc.  Committee  on  TEN-Energy  N°  2000/2);
and  a  draft  report  of  the  Commission  on  the  implementation  of  the  TEN-Energy
Guidelines  (Doc.  Committee  on  TEN-Energy  N°  2000/3),  on  possible  future
modifications to those Guidelines, and on new projects to be included  in the  list of
projects of common interest.

3.3.2.  Telecommunications

The  TEN-Telecom  Guidelines  Committee  met  three  times  during  2000.  At  its  first
meeting  on  January  28  it  delivered  its  opinion  on  the  draft  TEN-Telecom  Work
Programme and the draft text determining the content of the 2000/1 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 
transport  and  mobility,  environment  and  emergency
management, healthcare, city and regional networks and applications and services for
SMEs.

training,  culture, 

At  its  second  meeting  on  July  25  the  Committee  delivered  its  opinion  on  the  draft
text of the 2000/2 call for proposals for generic services and applications in the same
fields as in the 2000/1 call. Furthermore it discussed ways to a) find national projects
with  good  potential  to  expand  on  the  trans-European  level,  b)  exchange  good
practices,  c)  map  the  state  of  the  art  in  the  different  Member  States,  in  order  to
identify areas where the leverage of the Community intervention is high, i.e. where
needs are not met by the market. The Committee pointed out that synergy potentials
with  the  bench-marking  exercise  of  e-Europe  should  be  taken  into  account  when
identifying  projects.  It  also  exchanged  views  on  the  status  of  the  intermediate
evaluation  of  the  TEN-Telecom  action,  giving  constructive  guidance  on  the
methodological  approach  of  the  study  as  well  as  practical  advice  on  consulting  the
relevant stakeholders.

At  the  last  meeting  of  this  Committee  held  on  12  December  2000  the  main  issue
discussed  was  the  final  report  of  the  intermediate  evaluation  of  the  TEN-Telecom
action,  which  was  presented  by  the  independent  consultant.  The  Committee
welcomed the general findings and recommendations of the report raising, inter alia,
the  following  main  points:  a)  the  TEN-Telecom  programme  should  make
connections  to  the  e-Europe  initiative  and  co-ordinate  its  activities  with  other
programmes,  such  as  IST,  INFO2000  and  e-Content;  b)  the  trans-European
dimension  of  the  projects  should  be  further  clarified  and  reinforced;  c)  more
emphasis  should  be  given  to  the  business  planning  process  of  the  projects;  d)  the
innovative nature of the services should be prioritised; e) activities focusing on trust
in  technology  and  confidentiality  should  be  carried  out;  f)  neutrality  to  technology
should be maintained and emphasised; g) contract negotiations should be speeded up;
h) relations with national contact points should be developed further.

3.3.3.  Transport

The  Committee  referred  to  in  Article  18  of  the  guidelines  met  three  times  in  the
course of 2000. The first meeting was held on 14 February, the second meeting was
held on 23  March  2000,  and  the  third  meeting  was  held  on  18  May.  The  meetings
reviewed  the  work  of  ad  hoc  working  parties  of  the  Committee  which  met  several
times:

10

- On strategic environmental assessment, one meeting

- On road bottlenecks, 2 meetings

- On rail bottlenecks, 2 meetings

- On the implementation reports,1 meeting

- On road ITS (please see 2.3)

The  meetings  assisted  the  Commission  in  the  preparation  of  the  revision  of  the
guidelines and in the identification of the main rail and road bottlenecks on the trans-
European  network.Exchanges  of  information  on  the  implementation  of  strategic
environmental assessment were held.The  meetings  also  assisted  the  Commission  in
the  design  of  a  questionnaire  to  prepare  a  report  on  the  implementation  of  the
guidelines

3.3.4.  TEN financial assistance Committee

The  TEN  financial  assistance  committee  met  seven  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  643.3  million.
Details of its financing decisions are to be found below in section 4.1.

3.3.5.  Financial control

In  the  course  of  1999  the  Commission  had  started  an  exchange  of  views  with  the
TEN  Financial  Assistance  Committee  in  its  "horizontal"  and  three  sectoral
configurations  on  the  practical  arrangements  for  co-operation  on  financial  control
between the Commission and the Member States. 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.

Following  the  disscusions  started  in  1999,  the  Committee  in  its  TEN-Telecom
configuration  discussed  this  issue  on  12  December  2000  and  concluded  that  a
Member State does not enter any financial obligation by approving the submission of
a proposal to a TEN-telecom call, except in cases when explicitly giving a financial
guarantee, or when acting as a partner in the project.

11

Sector

Transport

Energy

Telecommunications

Telematic Networks

NB: n.a. = not available

Table 1 : Community financing of the TEN in 2000 (million ECU/EUR)
Instrument
Type of assistance

1993-19955

19965

19975

19985

19995

20005

Loans
Loan guarantees
Grants

Grants, interest rate subsidies,
loan  guarantees  and  co-
financing of studies

Loans
Guarantees
Grants  and  co-financing  of
studies

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

the  14

EIB6-7
EIF6-7
ERDF7-8
Cohesion Fund
TEN  budget  line  B5-
700
(Of  which 
specific projects)
EIB6-7
EIF6-7
Structural Funds
TEN budget line
B5-710
EIB6-7-10
EIF6-7-9
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

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
256
n.a.
444
497

266

174
0
355
29

1 880
276
n.a.
27

3 434
230
n.a.
28

2 126
44
38711
22

4989
55
n.a.
1287
581

2889

392
0
n.a.
14

2726
165
n.a.
35

119

44

47

15

21

22

5Money committed
6Signed contracts
7TEN and TEN-related projects
8Usually includes appropriations committed for the period 1996-1999
9Including rail traffic management
10Estimate
11TEN-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 8  June  and subsequently  approved
by  written  consultation  13  feasibility  and  other  studies  for  which  the  Commission
proposed financial assistance of EUR 13.6 million. The corresponding Commission
decision was taken on 16 October. Further details are to be found in annex V.

Table 2 : TEN Energy Commitments (million ECU/EUR)

1995-97

1998

1999

2000

Amount

%

Amount

%

Amount

%

Amount

%

Electricity

Gas

14,4

25,9

42,8

57,2

10,8

7,8

58

42

7,9

27,4

20,9

72,6

7,3

6,3

53,7

46,3

TOTAL

45,3

100

18,6

100

28,8

100

13,6

100

4.1.2.  Telecommunications

The TEN Financial Committee in its telecommunications composition met twice, on
July 25 and December 12.

At  the  July  meeting  it  delivered  its  opinion  on  the  draft  Commission  decision
granting  Community  aid  to  35  of  projects  of  common  interest  selected  from  the
2000/1  call  for  a  total  maximum  Community  support  of  MEUR  35.  Of  these
projects, 31 referred to market validation studies and 4 to deployment projects. The
Committee also delivered its opinion on the draft decision for selection of 1 support
and  co-ordination  action  in  the  field  of  TEN-Telecom,  selected  from  the  results  of
the 1998/3 Rolling call for proposals, for a maximum Community support of MEUR
0,9.  During  the  December  meeting  the  committee  exchanged  views  on  the
Commission  report  on  the  technical  reviews  of  the  2000  TEN-Telecom  (see  6.2.1
below). The Committee also discussed the interpretation of Articles 8-submission of
applications  for  financial  aid-  and  12-financial  control-  of  the  TEN  Financial
Regulation (see also paragraph 3.3.5 above).

4.1.3.  Transport

As regards transport, the Commission received 288 requests for financial assistance,
a few of them for relatively minor sums. The measure to limit financial assistance for
transport projects to a minimum of EUR 1 million was broadly applied in 2000, and
helped  successfully  to  reduce  the  number  of  decisions.  The  total  requested  support
was  more  than  EUR  1700  million.  The  TEN  financial  assistance  committee  held
three meetings in 2000 and gave a favourable opinion on 102 projects and studies for

13

which the Commission proposed financial assistance totalling EUR 591.659 million.
Several of the actions chosen  were a continuation of (or complementary to) actions
previously supported; Annex VII gives full details.

Finally a total of 99 actions only amounting to EUR 580.659 million were supported
in 2000. As can be seen from Table 5, the Commission has continued to concentrate
a large part of its available resources (49.54%) on the 14 specific “Essen” projects.
However,  priority  projects  absorbed  a  smaller  share  of  commitment  appropriations
than  in  previous  years  as  three  of  them  –  Malpensa  airport,  Cork-Dublin-Belfast-
Larne railway line and Oresund Fixed Link – have been completed while some of the
big  High  Speed  Train  projects  have  not  yet  entered  their  construction  phase.  This
share is smaller than the maximum % share mentioned in the European Parliament's
budgetary commentaries on the 2000 budget.

Table 3: Transport - Project categories

14 specific projects confirmed  by the Essen
European  Council  (includes  rail 
traffic
management)

Traffic management (all modes except rail)

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

Support 2000

%

(Million EUR)

2000

1999

287.69

49.54

58.33

234.63

10.05

40.41

58

9

33

TOTAL

580.65

100

100

Table 4: Transport - Form of Intervention

Feasibility studies/Technical support measures

Direct grants

Interest rate rebates

TOTAL

Support 2000

%

Million EUR

2000

1999

188.70

337.95

54.00

580.65

33

58

9

100

28

58

14

100

14

Table 5: Transport Modes

MODE

Number of projects/studies per
mode

Air Traffic Management

Airports

Combined Transport

Global  Navigation  Satellite
Systems

Inland Waterways

Multimodal

Ports

Rail

Rail Traffic Management

Road

Road Traffic Management

Vessel Traffic Management

GRAND TOTAL:

7

7

1

1

4

1

2

45

1

17

12

1

99

Support 2000

EUR million

%

14.700

2.53%

11.104

1.91%

5.000

0.86%

12.000

2.07%

15.800

2.72%

34.000

5.85%

2.500

0.43%

346.122

59.60%

 35.000

6.02%

71.400

12.30%

32.133

5.53%

0.900

0.15%

580.659

100%

Considerable support for other important projects reflects the number of applications
received from Member States and subsequently selected. It also takes account of the
remarks included in the 2000 budget regarding the percentage share between modes
and the maximum support to priority projects. Support to studies was limited to 33%
of the total, since many of the projects had reached the construction stage. In general,
the  European  Parliament's  budgetary  commentaries  on  the  2000  budget  were
respected also as regards modal share.

4.2. 

IDA

The IDA projects (sectorial and horizontal actions) are financed independently of the
TEN financial assistance regulation, but mention is made of them here for the sake of
completeness. In 2000 EUR 22.3 million were committed for IDA actions.

4.3. 

Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund

The European  Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and  the  Cohesion  Fund  are  by
far  the  main  source  of  Union  grants  for  TEN  projects.  However,  because  Regional
Fund expenditure is not broken down by TEN project supported, figures for support
to TENs from that source cannot be given.

15

4.3.1.  ERDF

In  2000,  the  preparations  for  the  new  Structural  Funds  programming  period  2000-
2006  were  made.  The  Member  states  submitted  the  required  programming
documents. The Commission negotiated the documents with Member states and the
great majority of them were concluded by the end of the year 2000, enabling project
funding for the new period to start in 2001.

Infrastructure  regained  its  relative  importance  when  it  comes  to  Structural  Funds
allocations  by  broad  area  of  intervention  under  Objective  1.  While  the  portion  for
infrastructure was slightly  below 30% in the last programming period 1994-1999 it
will be around 34% during the current period. About half the infrastructure granting
will be devoted to transport networks, highly concentrated in the cohesion countries.

4.3.2.  Cohesion Fund

(See Annex VIII for details)

In  2000,  the  commitments  made  by  the  Cohesion  Fund  to  TEN  transport  projects
stood  at  EUR  1,287  million.  This  was  about  three  times  the  amount  committed  in
1999 and shows that Cohesion Fund activity gathered pace again in 2000.

Table 6 : Cohesion Fund TEN-T Financing by country

Commitments up to 1999

Commitments in 2000

(million EUR)

(million EUR)

Greece

Spain

Ireland

Portugal

TOTAL

1535

4606

748

1446

8334

155

852

34

246

1287

Among  the  28  grants  committed  in  2000  (see  the  detailed  table  in  Annex  VIII)
fifteen were aiding projects in road network, 12 were for the rail network (including
one  metro  project)  and  one  was  supporting  port  infrastructure.  However,  while
during  the  period  1993-1999  road  construction  accounted  for  more  than  half  the
Cohesion Fund granting to the transport sector (for details see the 1999 TEN report),
rail  was  clearly  dominant  in  2000,  accounting  for  three  quarters  of  total
commitments.

16

Table 7 : Cohesion Fund TEN financing by country and mode, 2000, in %

Road

Rail

Air

Ports

Greece

Spain

Ireland

Portugal

TOTAL

74

15

52

20

24

26

85

48

75

75

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

5

1

In Greece Cohesion Fund granting was largely concentrated on the continued support
(EUR  115  million)  of  the  completion  of  the  motorway  system  around  the  Essen
project no 7 “Pathe-via Egnatia”. However, the grant for the construction of the new
railway Korinthos-Kiato amounted to EUR 40 million and brought the share of rail in
the total granted to above one quarter.

In Spain 85%  of  the  grants  for  the  year  2000  were  devoted  to  the  rail  network,  all
used for the high-speed line Madrid-Barcelona-French border. The total support was
EUR  728  million  and  thus  accounted  for  57%  of  the  entire  TEN-T  granting  of  the
Cohesion Fund. Out of the EUR 124 million for the road network three projects were
supported, of which the Autovia de Levante a Francia por Aragon received by far the
biggest portion (60%).

For Ireland the grants went to the road  and  the  rail  network  in  nearly  equal  shares.
About  EUR  17  million  support  went  to  the  construction  of  stage  2  of  the  M1
Cloghren-Lissenhall  and  EUR  16  million  contributed  to  the  development  of  the
South-West Rail Corridor.

In Portugal three quarters of the 2000 grants were used for rail projects. Five projects
received  a  grant.  The  modernisation  of  the  Algarve  lines  II  and  III  accounted  for
EUR 68 million. With EUR 64 million, the development of the northern rail network
enjoyed comparable support. The highest single grant (EUR 52million) for Portugal
went to the Lisbon Metro to allow for its connection with the TEN-T. For the road
network,  IP  2,  IP  3  and  IP  6  were  supported,  with  the  greatest  amount  (EUR  20
million)  used  for  connecting  the  IP  3  and  the  IP  5.  Continuing  with  efforts  to
improve maritime transport in Portugal, a grant of EUR 12 million went to the port
of Setubal, supporting the installation of a multimodal terminal.

4.4. 

European Investment Bank (EIB) loans

(See Annex IX for details)

The  development  of  large  infrastructure  of  common  interest,  of  which  the  Trans-
European  Network  constitutes  the  main  part,  remains  one  of  EIB’s  priority
objectives.  In  2000,  the  EIB’s  Board  of  Directors  approved  a  total  of  EUR  8597
million  in  favour  of  TENs  and  related  projects  in  the  Union.  Finance  contract
signatures reached EUR 6613 million, representing 22% of the Bank’s activity in the
Member  States.  These  figures  compare  to  EUR  7341  million  approved  and  EUR

17

8277 million signed in 1999. In other words, there has been a significant increase in
project  approvals  (+17%)  and  a  decrease  in  signatures  (-20%),  which  reflects  a
relative slowdown in TEN activity, but a significant commitment to new investment.

Since  199312,  the  Bank  has  approved  loans  in  favour  of  TENs  for  a  total  of  EUR
64057 million and signed finance contracts for a cumulated EUR 47082 million. The
total investment cost of the corresponding projects is estimated to EUR 215 billion.

EIB  has  taken  a  proactive  role  in  the  financial  engineering  of  TENs  projects  most
notably  in  those  based  on  PPPs.  Some  of  the  most  significant  examples  of  these,
which  are  also  potential  models  for  future  projects,  are  the  development  of  DBFO
structures which have been applied to road projects in the UK, Finland and Portugal.
The  Bank  has  also  been  to  the  fore  in  the  development  of  innovative  instruments
such as the development of refinancing structures to enable commercial financiers a
defined  exit  from  long-term  financing.  EIB  is  also  facilitating  cross-fertilisation,
sharing its experience in PPP financing with new promoters.

Loans  approved by the  EIB  in 2000 for  TENs in the transport  sector  reached  EUR
6718 million in the Union (EUR 4807 million in 1999, a 40% increase), resulting in a
total  of  EUR  41252  million  approved  for  that  sector  to  date13.  Finance  contract
signatures  amounted  to  EUR  4010  million  in  2000  (EUR  4977  million  in  1999,  a
19%  decrease)  which  brings  the  total  amount  of  signatures  to  date  to  EUR  26666
million.  The  decrease  in  signatures  has  been  especially  accentuated  for  the  bigger
projects (Essen), with a reduction of 25% relative to 1999 figures. Examples of loans
approved in 2000 are the PBKAL sections in Belgium and the Netherlands, the TGV
Est in France and the Greek motorways (Peripheral Road of Attica (E.S.S.I), Egnatia
Central, Thessaloniki East Orbital, PATHE (Katerini)).

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 979 million.

In the energy sector, EUR 299 million of new loans were approved in 2000 for gas
and  electricity TENs, for  a  cumulated amount since 1993  of  EUR  6353  million.  In
2000,  EUR  392  million  have  been  signed  for  the  electrical  interconnection  Italy-
Greece,  the  Irish  Gas  Transmission  project  in  Ireland  and  the  Verbund  Burgenland
Line project in Austria. This compares with EUR 174 million in 1999.

In  2000,  the  EIB  also  provided  new  loans  for  European  Telecommunication
networks,  but  not  covered  by  the  TEN  Telecommunications  guidelines,  with  EUR
1580 million of new loan approvals and EUR 2211 million of signatures (EUR 2126
million in 1999). Finance contracts signed from 1993 onwards reach a total of EUR
15196 million.

12 1995 for TEN-Transport projects.
13 Since 1995.

18

                                                
Table 8 : EIB lending for TEN (million EUR)

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000 Total

EU

3280

4754

5568

6522

7677

8242

8277

6613

50933

Transport 1908

1939

3819

3505

4943

4415

5977

4010

30516

Essen
projects

1346

1137

1603

1189

1751

1142

1616

1224

11008

Energy

367

715

910

1415

854

393

174

392

5220

Essen
projects

207

315

523

695

300

100

75

25

2240

Telecom 1005

2100

839

1602

1880

3434

2126

2211

15197

CEEC

579

777

400

668

784

1507

1456

1494

7665

4.5. 

European Investment Fund (EIF) Guarantee Activity

(See Annex X for details)

Overall  EIF  signatures  for  2000  amounted  to  EUR  1,102.4  million  of  which  EUR
807 million were related to guarantees and EUR 295.4 million related to equity.

The EIF signed eleven guarantee operations for infrastructure projects in 2000 for a
total of EUR 238.9 million. Of the eleven new contracts signed during the year, five
concerned telecoms, three transport and three energy projects.

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

19

Table 9 : EIF loan guarantees for TEN projects (signed operations in Million EUR)

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

1994-

TRANSPORT

75.6

ENERGY

TELECOM

TOTAL

207.7

156.1

2000

85.2

11.9

19.4

302.6

55.0

72.0

265.8

117.5

973.7

270.2

3.8

4.5

-

83.75

581.9

9.3

277.8

235.0

123.1

37.7

858.4

439.4

116.5

582.1

336.6

311.5

388.9

238.9

2,414.0

TEN activities, complementary to those of the EIB, have been transferred to the latter
together with the EIF’s team of specialists. The relevant contract was signed with the
EIB on 7  December 2000.  The  Bank will  assume the advantages of  the  transferred
portfolio, but will also bear the ultimate risk  of the transactions, the  EIF  remaining
merely a guarantor of record.

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.  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.  In
accordance with the Commission’s decision, (Agenda 2000), from the year 2000 all
Community  financial  assistance  for  transport  infrastructure  in  the  CEEC  is
channelled through ISPA (see below).

4.7.2.  CARDS

On  5.12.2000  the  European  Union  adopted  a  Community  aid  program  entitled
CARDS  for  the  countries  participating  in  the  Stabilisation  and  association  process,
Albania,  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,
Croatia  and  the  Federal  Republic  of  Yugoslavia.  The  new  regulation  covers  the
period  2000-2006,  with  a  total  budget  of  EUR  4.65  billion.  It  will  accompany  and
support  the  democratic,  economic  and  institutional  reforms  of  the  five  countries
concerned.

Fostering  regional  co-operation  is  one  of  the  main  goals  of  CARDS.  Under  this
heading,  the  following  specific  objective  is  identified:  to  re-integrate  the  countries
participating  in  the  stabilisation  and  association  process  into  the  European
infrastructure  networks,  namely  for  transport,  border  management  and  energy,  and
into  the  wider  European  networks,  such  as  for  environmental  protection  and
sustainable  development  (specific  objective  to  be  inserted  in  the  CARDS  regional
strategy paper to be prepared in 2001 by the European Commission).

20

4.7.3.  TACIS

The new Tacis Regulation came into force on 21 January 2000, covering the period
2000 - 2006, having a total budget of EUR 3,318 Mio. The new regulation increased
the rate of the annual budget to be allocated to investment financing from 10% to a
maximum of 20%.

A  priority  sector  for  investment  financing  remains  cross-border  co-operation,
including border infrastructure. To facilitate trade, commerce and revenue collection
systems  at  the  borders,  the  Commission  continues  to  pay  particular  attention  to  the
importance of the functioning of border crossing points.

4.7.4.  MEDA

Spending by the MEDA programme better to link the countries of the Mediterranean
Basin to the Union is at present limited to a small number of feasibility studies.

4.7.5. 

ISPA

The  year  2000  was  the  first  when  the  new  pre-accession  instrument  ISPA  was
implemented. ISPA is tailored on the pattern of the Cohesion Fund and is aimed, for
50% of its allocation, at upgrading the transport network of transeuropean interest in
the ten countries of Central Europe which are candidates to join the European Union.
For transport infrastructure, ISPA grants amount to EUR 520 million per year from
2000 to 2006.

Within  the  TINA  network,  a  special  attention  will  be  paid  to  the  10  Paneuropean
Corridors  identified  at  the  Ministerial  Conference  in  Crete  (1994)  and  Helsinki
(1997).

In the transport sector, ISPA uses, as a reference, the Transport Infrastructure Needs
Assessment (TINA) study carried out by the Commission in the acceding countries.
However, due to the gap between the assessed cost of the TINA Network, EUR 91.6
billion up to 2015, and the appropriation available under  ISPA-Transport, EUR  3.6
billion until 2006, it is essential that ISPA focus on priorities.

In  2000,  the  Pan-European  Transport  Corridor  IV  was  the  main  beneficiary  of  the
selection  process,  nine  projects  having  been  selected  along  this  Corridor,  including
seven  rail  projects.  ISPA  contribution  along  this  Corridor  would  reach  EUR  518.3
million, out of a total of EUR 800 million.

A  fair  balance  between  road  and  rail  projects  has  been  reached,  53%  of  the  2000
transport  allocation  being  devoted  to  rail  and  42%  to  road.  Compliance  with
European  standards  has  also  been  checked  for  any  transport  mode  supported,  in
particular  in  the  field  of  interoperability,  signalling,  safety,  maximum  lorries’  axle
loads of 11.5 tons.

An  important  item  when  selecting  ISPA  projects  in  2000  was  the  adaptation  of
infrastructure  to  traffic  needs  and  forecasts.  In  particular,  bottlenecks  were
considered  as  a  priority.  Other  essential  points  consisted  in  dealing  properly  with
environmental impact and multi-annual maintenance schemes.

21

Infrastructure  improvements  have  appeared  to  be  a  necessary  but  not  a  sufficient
condition  to  ensure  the  operation  of  efficient  transport  networks  in  the  beneficiary
countries. Good quality of commercial services oriented towards customers’ request,
especially  in  rail  transport,  was  considered  as  being  essential.  In  that  respect,
synergies  between  ISPA  and  the  PHARE  instrument  will  be  further  developed.
Besides,  bottlenecks  of  a  non-infrastructure  nature,  especially  lengthy  border
crossing procedures, need to be addressed in parallel with infrastructure development
policies.

ISPA will provide a substantial contribution to the enterprise efforts for the countries
of  Central  and  Eastern  Europe  (CEECs),  especially  in  view  of  the  work  of  the
political community in transportation, and the need to reinforce the connection to the
Trans-European network.

In Agenda 2000, the Commission stressed the importance of the transport sector for
the pre-accession strategy of the European Union. CEECs represent an essential link
between the EU, the CIS and Mediterranean countries. The transport infrastructure of
the  region  represents  a  vital  element  for  competitiveness,  economic  growth  and
employment in the EU of tomorrow.

Accordingly, the Commission required that each candidate country prepare an ISPA
strategy for transport, outlining the manner in which ISPA funds would be used, the
framework of analysis for the projects, and the selection of priorities  for  the  use of
this instrument.

The  10  countries  completed  their  strategies  in  May-June  of  2000,  with  attention  to
the following criteria:

(cid:1)  The reinforcement of  the Trans-European Network, notably to the  benefit  of  the
ten  multimodal  Pan-European  transport  corridors,  endorsed  at  the  third  Pan-
European Transport Conference in Helsinki in June 1997, and with priority given
to missing links and the alleviation of bottlenecks.

(cid:1)  The  concentration  of  investments  on  these  corridors  as  first  priority,  and

eventually access to these corridors.

(cid:1)  The  respect  of  the  equilibrium  between  the  different  modes  of  transport;  a

particular effort is necessary to halt the continued decline of rail transport.

(cid:1)  Ensuring  financial  sustainability  of  the  investment,  especially  concerning  the
operation  and  maintenance  of  the  infrastructure,  including  environmental  and
health aspect and compliance with the acquis.

(cid:1)  The compliance with the EIA Directive, including public participation.

(cid:1)  The necessity of using external financing to leverage the impact of ISPA funds in
particular  through  loans  from  international  financial  institutions  (IFI)  –  notably
the EIB and the EBRD.

A  total  of  EUR  537  million  for  transport  projects  was  committed  from  the  2000
budget, receiving over 53% of the total ISPA allocation (in addition, 39 environment
projects received over 46% of the 2000 budget).

22

Table 10 : ISPA Funds in the transport sector 2000

Total EUR

Rail EUR

Road EUR Air EUR

Beneficiary
Country

Other°
EUR

Total
N°

Bulgaria

52 000 000

0

24 000 000

28 000 000

0

Czech
Republic

42 135 864

31 620 130

10 051 734

Estonia

12 411 126

0

11 331 126

Hungary

44 159 860

43 825 000

0

Latvia

20 180 328

12 700 328

7 225 000

Lithuania

34 042 528

9 129 888

24 912 640

Poland

173 969 062

72 282 461

100 802 601

Romania

118 627 136

72 779 440

45 847 696

Slovakia

30 853 200

30 853 200

Slovenia

8 280 000

7 500 000

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

500 000

1 080 000

334 860

255 000

0

884 000

0

0

780 000

2

4

2

6

5

3

8

3

1

2

TOTAL

536 659 104

280 690 447 224 170 797

28 000 000

3 833 860

36

° includes primarily technical assistance programmes.

23

Table 11: Transport sector: Projects per TINA Corridor (funded in 2000)

Corridor

N° of projects

ISPA Funds EUR

% total of Transport
Budget 2000

Corridor 1

Corridor 2

Corridor 3

Corridor 4

Corridor 4-5

Corridor 5

Corridor 5 10

Corridor 5A

Corridor 6

Corridor 9

Corridor 9B

Corridor E-W

Corridor 
Assigned*

Not

4

2

2

9

1

1

2

1

1

1

3

3

7

27 819 326

72 282 461

78 431 376

163 193 570

94 860

12 331 000

8 280 000

30 853 200

10 051 734

34 747 696

24 779 328

12 955 328

5.18

13.47

14.61

30.41

.02

2.30

1.54

5.75

1.87

6.47

4.62

2.41

60 875 225

11.34

TOTAL

37

536 695 104

*  For  several  reasons,  a  project  may  fall  into  an  area  not  assigned  to  a  TINA  corridor.  For
example, if the project is technical assistance in project management, it would not fall into a
specific TINA corridor.

5. 

FINANCING THE TEN: OTHER ISSUES

5.1. 

TEN Financial Regulation - setting up of a Multiannual Indicative Programme
for TEN-T (2001-2006)

In  the  framework  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.

As reported in the 1999 Annual Report, a financial framework for the period 2000-
2006  of  EUR  4,600  million  for  all  three  TEN  sectors  was  set.  Of  the  EUR  4,600
million  approximately  EUR  4,170  million  would  be  allocated  to  transport  projects,

24

EUR  155  million  to  energy  projects  and  EUR  275  million  to  telecommunication
projects.

The purpose of setting up a Multiannual Indicative Programme for the TEN-T over
the period 2000-2006 under the TEN  Financial  Regulation  as amended  was to take
particular  account  of  the  financial  needs  of  large  TEN-T  projects.  In  additinon  to
continuing  support  for  the  the  “Essen”  Priority  Projects,  it  was  also  intended
specifically  to  support  network  development  projects  designed  to  clear  bottlenecks
and  those  of  a  cross-border  nature,  together  with  proposals  for  intelligent  transport
systems  (ITS)  for  road,  rail  and  air  transport.  The  Galileo  project  is  a  major
component of the MIP. In the revision of the TEN-T guidelines and the preparation
of the Multiannual Indicative Programme, the joint work of the EC and the TEN-T
(national)  Expert  Group  on  ITS  for  road  traffic  management  resulted  in  the
identification of eight application domains for the deployment of ITS on the Trans-
European Road Network across the 15 Member States.

Following dialogue between the Commission and the Member States establishing the
fundamental elements of a TEN-T MIP such as structure, flexible arrangements and
management  conditions for the programme,  a  call  for  applications  was  launched  in
September  2000  which  resulted  in  more  than  200  bids,  representing  total  support
requested of more than 7 billion EURO.

The total amount proposed to the TEN-T Financial Committees to be programmed in
the  framework  of  the  2001-2006  MIP,  EUR  2781  million,  was  the  result  of  the
assessment  of  the  bids  submitted,  and  represented  about  two  thirds  of  the  total
amount  available  during  the  period,  expressing  the  Committee's  interest  in  leaving
sufficient  margin  for  annual  budget  allocations  outside  the  MIP,  as  well  as  for  the
inclusion of new transport priorities in the context of the revision of the programme
scheduled for 2003.

6. 

COMMUNICATIONS, EVALUATION, FINANCIAL CONTROL

6.1. 

Communications

6.1.1.  Commission Communication on the development of EURO-ISDN

On  8  May  2000  and  in  accordance  with  Decision  2717/95/EC  of  the  European
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  9  November  1995,  article  10  there  of,  the
Commission  published  a  Communication  and  submitted  it  to  the  European
Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of
the  Regions.14  This  included  an  overall  evaluation  of  a  set  of  Guidelines  for  the
development  of  EURO-ISDN  (Integrated  Services  Digital  Network)  as  a  trans-
European Network (TEN-ISDN).

6.2. 

Evaluation

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

14 COM (2000) 267 final of 08.05.2000

25

                                                
6.2.1.  Telecommunications

In total 33 projects were reviewed on 7 May and 26 October 2000 (see Annex III).
The general recommendations from the reviewers were to emphasise the support to
projects  to  develop  business  plans  and  to  organise,  when  appropriate,  more  on-site
reviews (this is also recommended by the Court of Auditors in its Special report).

The assessment of teletourism projects

These  are  15  projects  co-funded  by  the  TEN-Telecom  budget  following  a  joint
initiative  that  was launched in 1997 by  the  Directorate-General  for  the  Information
Society and the Directorate-General for Regional Policy. Their aim is to improve the
quality  of  local  information  on  tourism  and  SMEs  through  a  critical  mass  of
interoperable and reliable information.

In April 2000 a technical assessment of 1315 of these projects was made with the help
of  external  experts  (see  annex  III).  The  overall  conclusion  was  that  these  projects
contributed significantly to a pioneering action toward e-Europe, integrating actions
at  local  level  with  that  at  the  European  level,  while  respecting  the  subsidiarity
principle.

The intermediate evaluation of the TEN-Telecom programme

In accordance with the requirements of article 14 of the Guidelines decision, and the
requirements  of  the  SEM  2000  initiative  for  a  systematic  evaluation  of  EU
programmes  the  Commission  carried  out  an  intermediate  evaluation  of  the  TEN-
Telecom  action.  Having  received  a  favourable  opinion  from  the  Guidelines
Committee at its meeting of July 15-16 in 1999 on the outline terms of reference, the
Commission  published  a  pre-information  notice  in  the  OJ16.  Early  in  2000  the
Commission  contracted  external  experts  under  the  normal  open  tender  procedures.
Furthermore,  the  Commission  established  a  steering  group  with  representatives  of
stakeholders, to guide the work of the experts and to guarantee their independence.

The  contractor  presented  the  findings  and  recommendations  to  the  TEN-Telecom
Financial/Guidelines  Committees  at  their  meeting  on  12  December  2000  (see  3.2.2
above).  The  complete  report  can  be  accessed  at  the  TEN-Telecom  web  site
www.ispo.cec.be/tentelecom.  The  main  findings  of  this  independent  evaluation  are
summarised below:

The  intermediate  evaluation  of  the  TEN-Telecom  Action  shows  a  relevant
programme on track with potential to develop a niche where it can make a difference.
It  is  strategically  placed  with  a  relevant  task  to  bring  trans-European  high-risk
(business)  projects  and  results  of  research  projects  forward  to  deployment  with
substantial SME involvement. The relatively modest size of the programme is not a
disadvantage. Rather, it provides TEN-Telecom with the agility to manoeuvre in the
highly  fluid  world  of  telecommunications  and  potential  to  support  the  e-Europe

15The  total  number  of  the  TEN-Telecom  funded  projects  within  this  initiative  was  initially  15:  however  the
project for BRANDENBURG-D was terminated before the assessment, unable to fulfil the contractual
obligations  because  of  internal  problems,  whereas  the  CORSICA  ON-LINE  project  was  assessed  in
May 1999.
16OJ No S 230 of 26/11/99

26

                                                
strategy. Against the background of the high-risk nature of the projects, preliminary
results and project participants’ expectations indicate good deployment potential for
many projects after the completion of the project phase financed by TEN-Telecom.

There is, however, a need to focus activities if TEN-telecom is to realise its potential
impact.  The  areas  of  the  Action  are  too  numerous,  with  the  risk  of  spreading
activities  too  thinly.  Furthermore,  there  is  a  need  for  improvement  of  project
efficiency,  especially  in  the  field  of  elaborating  business  and  investment  plans,  the
allocation  of  resources  to  specific  parts  of  a  given  project,  as  well  as  further
strengthening of the trans-European dimension of projects.

6.2.2.  Transport

TEN-T  project  management  is  integrated  into  the  policy  units  responsible  for  a
sector. In this way, close alignment with and contribution to Community policies and
legislation  is  ensured.  Selection  and  evaluation  are  strongly  influenced  by  these
factors.  As  an  example  of  this,  for  all  ITS  (Road  Traffic  Management)  projects
funded under  the TEN-T budget line, in  addition  to  the  application  stage  where  all
projects  are  judged  by  classic  criteria,  ex-post  evaluations  are  carried  out  to  assess
conformity  with  the  original  objectives.  In  2000,  7  projects  were  evaluated  by  the
Commission with the help of external support and for two of the projects (SERTI and
VIKING) detailed on-site reviews were carried out (France and Finland).

7. 

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

7.1. 

Energy

The  main  emphasis  of  external  relations  regarding  energy  networks  is  put  on  the
introduction  of  competition  and  of  regulation  on  the  electricity  and  natural  gas
markets of the third contras concerned.

This is particularly true for the candidate  countries  which  are  preparing  themselves
for the adoption and implementation of the «acquis communautaire» in this field but
other third countries will have to act along the same lines.

Indeed, it is considered that opening and regulating the energy markets is a condition
for  having  viable  investment  in  energy  networks  in  the  new  European  context  of
competitive energy markets

The  extension  and  rehabilitation  of  the  energy  networks  is  vital,  not  only  for  the
energy supply of the current European Union which will remain strongly dependent
on  external  resources,  in  particular  for  oil  and  natural  gas,  but  also  for  the  future
enlarged  Union.  In  this  respect  the  dependence  of  the  Union  will  not  alter
fundamentally after enlargement. Adequate interconnected energy networks are also
important  in  view  of  the  actual  participation  of  candidate  countries  in  the  future
internal energy market.

The  TEN-Energy  Guidelines  already  identify  gas  and  electricity  projects  involving
candidate countries. TEN Energy projects related to candidate countries continued to
benefit  from  Community  financial  support  under  the  TEN-Energy  programme,  but
also through PHARE”.

27

Considering  South-East  Europe,  in  particular  the  Western  Balkans,  the  Regional
Funding Conference held in Brussels on March 29 and 30, 2000, adopted a “Quick
Start  Package”  which  was  prepared  by  the  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB)  and
which  focused  mainly  on  infrastructure,  including  several  projects  in  the  energy
sector.

In  the  Quick-start  package,  the  European  Commission  has  accepted  to  prepare  a
regional  infrastructure  study  programme,  to  be  launched  in  2001.  The  European
Commission  was  also  designated  to  develop  in  2001  a  strategic  approach  for
transport  and  energy  infrastructures  in  South-East-Europe,  with  a  focus  on  the  5
countries of the Stabilisation and association process.

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,
transparent  and stable regulatory framework for the sector, well managed operating
companies,  an  attractive  business  environment  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  needed  to  monitor  the  sector  and  enforce  the  regulatory  framework..  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 ensures that investments made by the EIB and the EBRD
are accompanied by appropriate regulatory reform as far as this is possible. This has
been  achieved  through  the  development  of  a  Memorandum  of  Understanding
between  the  Commission  and  the  EBRD  which  ensures  prior  consultation  on  all
investments in the telecommunications sector. The same standards are applied to EIB
investments  all  of  which  have  to  be  approved  by  Commission  services.  The
Commission  liaises  with  other  IFIs,  especially  the  World  Bank,  to  achieve  similar
objectives. Technical assistance from Community programmes such as Phare, Tacis,
MEDA may be used to advise on regulatory reform.

7.3. 

Transport

In addition to work on airports under TINA, PHARE, Tacis and CARDS, funds have
been  successfully  used  to  identify  weaknesses  in  the  air  traffic  control  (ATC)
systems in these countries and to help them plan the way forward. In CARDS, stop-
gap  ATC  operations  have  been  supported,  notably  for  Bosnia-Herzegovina.  These
activities are raising interest with EIB and EBRD, which are undertaking studies to
investigate possibilities. The momentum achieved in this way should be retained.

28

Successful integration of candidate countries in an enlarged Union not only requires
that  these  countries  adopt  the  Community’s  legislative  acquis,  but  also  that  they
adapt their transport infrastructures to the  socio-economic  and environmental  needs
in  the  framework  of  the  necessary  extension  of  the  Trans-European  Transport
Network.  Whereas  the  overall  strategy  and  policy  priorities  related  to  the
infrastructure development in these countries were maintained and strengthened, the
year  2000  marked  a  major  change  in  the  EU  financial  instruments  with  ISPA
succeeding  PHARE,  and  in  particular  its  LSIF  facility,  as  the  main  source  for  EU
support to investments related to transport infrastructure.

In consequence, PHARE started last  year to concentrate in the field of transport on
technical  assistance  to  effective  implementation  of  the  acquis  and  corresponding
institution  building,  and  some  limited  support  under  the  National  and  CBC
Programmes  as  regards  developing  regional  or  local  transport  infrastructures  not
eligible for ISPA.

Many  candidate  countries  either  progressively  follow  or  have  already  implemented
into  their  legislation  and  apply  the  main  principles  and  objectives  of  the  TEN-
Guidelines as regards investment decisions concerning transport projects.

In the South-East Europe (Western Balkans), the EU supports the development of the
Pan-European  Transport  Corridors  (rail,  road,  water)  defined  at  the  Pan-European
Transport Conference in Helsinki in 1997, which link the Trans-European Transport
Network  with  central,  eastern,  southeastern  European  countries  and  beyond.  Of
particular strategic importance for southeastern European countries are Corridor IV,
V,  VII,  VIII  and  X.  The  European  Union  is  helping  the  countries  concerned  to
develop  their  transport  infrastructure  to  improve  the  Corridors  and  the  networks
linking to them.

The  “Quick  Start  Package”  approved  at  the  Regional  Funding  Conference  for
southeastern Europe, focused mainly on infrastructure, particularly the development
of road networks, representing 71% of the total infrastructure package.

8. 

OTHER UNION POLICIES WITH A TEN DIMENSION

8.1. 

Environment

The  approach  adopted  for  the  financing  of  TENs  projects  for  the  year  2000  was
based on the premise that sufficient information would be made available to ensure
that  TEN  projects  are  in  conformity  with  Community  legislation.  As  a  result,  the
standard  application  form  for  TENs  projects  was  amended  in  December  1999  to
include  a  specific  declaration  by  the  authority  responsible  for  monitoring  Natura
2000  sites,  within  the  Annex  on  environmental  legislation.  This  amendment  was
designed  to  facilitate  internal  procedures  within  Member  States,  thus  ensuring  the
conformity  of  TENs  projects  with  Natura  2000  and  in  particular  with  the  site
protection requirements under Art. 6 of the Habitats Directive.

8.2. 

Research and Development

Under the  Fourth Framework Programme of the European  Community for research
and  technological  development  and  demonstration  (1994-1998),  several  specific
programmes  have  included  activities  contributing  to  the  development  and  the

29

implementation  of  TEN-T  policies.  Those  projects  were  addressing  issues  like
support  to  decision  making  for  infrastructure  projects,  methodologies  to  build  up
transport observatories, and the assessment of the socio-economic and environmental
dimensions  of  the  TEN  policies.  Furthermore  many  pilot  cases  have  been  used  to
apply  the  results  and  recommendations  of  the  research  projects.  Most  of  those
projects have already been finished and the executive summaries and results could be
found 
web-site
http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/extra/home.html or on projects’ web-sites, which
are linked to the extra one. Moreover those results have contributed to the revision of
the  Community  guidelines for the development  of  the  transport  network  and  to  the
revision of the new Common Transport Policy, as it has appeared in the White Paper.

either 

extra 

the 

on 

Under  the  Fifth  Framework  Programme  for  Research,  Technological  Development
and Demonstration (1998-2002) many projects have been already initiated in several
key  actions  on  sustainable  mobility  and  intermodality,  land  transport  and  marine
technologies, air transport, efficient energy systems and services for citizens, satellite
navigation  (GALILEO).  The  assessment  of  TEN-T  policies,  the  improvement  of
infrastructure,  the  development  and  improvement  of  quantitative  tools  to  support
policy  making (transport information  system,  modelling  service,  network  of  airport
observatories)  as  well  as  the  establishment  of  discussion  forums  to  address  topics
relevant to TEN-T policies and projects (ALP-NET, THINK-UP, EXPEDITE) have
been identified as key objectives in the domain of socio-economic research.

The  SCENES  project  has  developed  a  transport  forecasting  model.  The  model  is
network  based  and  has  a  detailed  description  of  the  TEN-T.  It  covers  all  15  EU
Member  States  and  includes  also  Accession  Countries.  The  “business  as  usual”
scenario  suggests  that  passenger  transport  will  grow  at  an  annual  rate  of  1.3%  and
freight 2.5% in the enlarged EU by 2010. International passenger travel between EU
and  the  Accession  countries  is  estimated  to  grow  rapidly,  3.6%/pa.  While  EU
domestic road freight is forecast to grow by only 1.1%/pa, international road freight
transport  will  continue  to  grow  rapidly,  2.9%  for  intra-EU  and  up  to  3.9%/pa  for
trade  between  accession  countries  and  EU.  The  SCENES  model  is  currently  being
extended  to  link  it  to  national  transport  models  and  forecasts  (EXPEDITE  and
THINK-UP)  and  to  allow  assessment  of  macro-economic  impacts  –  GDP,
employment - of the TENs and other transport policies (TIPMAC).

In  order  to  test  the  feasibility  of  establishing  a  transport  information  system  to
support policy making it has been decided to launch under the 4th FP a practical trial
application,  the  “Pilot  for  an  Alpine  Transport  Information  System  (ATIS)  “.
Although  this  study  was  applied  to  the  limited  area  of  the  Alpine  regions,  it  was
confronted with hot policy issues with a high level of Community interest. The main
achievement  of  the  study  was  the  successful  completion  of  combining  trade  and
transport data from various sources for the Alpine pilot exercise, going through the
following  steps:  a)  Regionalisation  (NUTS2  level)  of  the  trade  flows  between
countries per transport mode and commodity group; b) Implementation of the main
transport  chain  organisation  structures  in  trade  flows;  c)  Implementation  of  the
specific  Alpine  transport  chain  organisation  in  trade  flows  over  the  Alps;  d)
Distribution  of  trade  flows  along  Alpine  crossings  over  all  transport  chain
organisation  structures;  e)  Assessing  impacts  related  to  Alpine  Transport  Policy
issues (e.g. pricing, combined transport).

30

The work carried out through this pilot resulted in the creation of a potentially useful
tool  for  policy  which  was  shown  to  be  capable  of  supporting  decisions  on
infrastructure  developments  (e.g.  in  the  case  of  TEN-T,  Brenner  corridor).  The
potential for extension and improvement of the ATIS system will be discussed in the
5th FP thematic network ALP-NET.

The key output from MAESTRO is the MAESTRO Guidelines. The main purpose of
the  Guidelines  is  to  aid  the  decision-making  process  for  the  selection,  design  and
evaluation of transport pilot and demonstration projects in Europe. The MAESTRO
Guidelines bridge the gap between different decision points and evaluation phases in
a pilot and demonstration project and are considered to be the first set of guidelines
that are readily applicable throughout the entire lifecycle of a pilot and demonstration
project. The Guidelines are designed to appeal to a wide range of end users. Within
the Guidelines, four key groups are identified, which reflect the role of the user in the
pilot  project  and  demonstration  project  process  and  the  type  of  information  they
require in order to carry out their role more effectively. In addition to being aimed at
specific  users,  the  Guidelines  are  also  intended  to  be  read  from  a  more  general
perspective.

The  Guidelines  divide  the  process  of  conducting  pilot  and  demonstration  projects
into 3 parts:

1. Before the project begins, when users define their specific transport problem and
decide whether a p/d project is the most appropriate way to try to solve the problem.

2.  During  the  project,  when  users  apply  the  MAESTRO  Methodology  to  address
the issues associated with setting up and conducting the project.

3.  After  the  project,  when  users  consider  how  best  to  use  the  project  results,  and
whether to proceed to full-scale implementation.

The Information Society Technology program (IST) was implemented under the 4th
and 5th R&D programs. The year 2000 has seen major developments in the European
policy with the eEurope initiative providing a driving force towards an  Information
Society and with the “European Research  Area” providing an orientation for  future
framework.  IST  has  proven  to  be  well  aligned  with  these  policy  areas.  A  quality
assessment  carried  out  of  the  IST  program  points  to  tangible  contributions  and  the
impact  that  this  research  has  already  had  on  these  policies.  Some  progress  and
achievements are summarized below by main areas:

8.2.1. 

Systems and services for citizens ( Key Action I–KAI)

Successful results continue to flow from the Telematics Applications Program:

(cid:1)  In  the  Health  sector,  transportable,  fully  functional  telemedicine  workstations
have  been  produced  and  an  on-line,  standardized  European  database  established
for  organ  transplants  (TELEINVIVO  and  RETRANSPLANT).  In  the  Persons
with  Special  Needs  domain  special  interfaces  have  been  developed  to  enable
elderly  and  disabled  persons  to  participate  more  fully  in  the  Mobile  and  Wired
(Internet)worlds  (MORE  and  WAI),  and  advances  have  been  made  in  terms  of
sophisticated, automated wheelchairs (TRANSWHEEL).

31

(cid:1)  Co-operative,  digital,  multi-lingual  Public  Administrations  platforms  providing
new models of service delivery have been demonstrated in cities, regions  and in
towns all over Europe (CITIES, NET FOR NETS and others).

(cid:1)  Successful  projects  in  the  Environment  sector  have  demonstrated  accurate,  real-
time large-scale monitoring of water quality, the provision of European wide data
on  environmental  data  for  citizens  and  Coastal  Zones  Management  (INION,
IRENIE, THESIS).

In  Transport  and  Tourism  successfully  concluded  projects  have  provided  multi-
modal  traveler  information,  integrated  road  transport  management,  standardized
electronic  fee  collection  systems  and  commercialized  products  for  the  emerging
aeronautical  telecommunications  network  as  well  as  demonstrating  the  possibilities
for 
(PROMISE,  QUARTET+,  KAREN,  A1,
EOLIA/ProATN, EU-SPIRIT).

integrated 

services 

tourism 

8.2.2.  New Methods of work and electronic commerce (KA II)

Work in Key Action II stems from the vision of a global networked economy where
consumers, workers and enterprises can seamlessly  and  dynamically  come  together
and  interact  through  an  infrastructure  that  promotes  both  trust  and  confidence.  The
objective of this key action is to pave the way for Europe to capitalize on this vision
and,  in  the  process,  enhance  the  competitiveness  of  its  enterprises,  empower  its
citizens  (as  consumers,  workers  and  entrepreneurs),  and  provide  for  a  more
sustainable  economy.  In  this  context,  key  requirements  include  the  research  and
development of architectures and solutions that emphasize interoperability.

8.2.3.  Multimedia content and tools (KA III)

Good  progress  was  made  on  projects  addressing  digital  libraries;  acquisition  of
complex  knowledge  and  skills;  virtual  learning  communities;  multi-linguality;
natural  and  multimodal 
interactivity;  cross-lingual  knowledge  management;
intelligent  interactive  information  presentation.  International  co-operation  was
further  enhanced  in  most  KAIII  areas  through  joint  workshops  involving  primary
actors  from  the  US,  Russia  and  countries  in  association.  The  Cultural  Heritage
Applications  Unit  has  signed  an  Understanding  on  Co-operation  with  the  Digital
Libraries Division of the National Science Foundation (USA) to cover co-operative
activities in the digital libraries field, following similar synchronization between the
Foundation's  Intelligent  Systems  Division  and  the  Human  Language  Technologies
Unit  in  1999.  KAIII  contributes  to  EC  policies  in  Education  and  Culture  (cf.
"eLearning: Designing Tomorrow's Education", SOCRATES and LEONARDO, the
MEDIA  programs,  Culture  2000),  to  the  eEurope  Action  Plan  (50%  of  ongoing
KAIII projects contribute already to eEurope, in particular to the action lines relating
to a knowledge-based economy and to digital content), and to the follow-on program
to  INFO2000  and MLIS. Awareness  and  dissemination  have  so  far  been  limited  to
building  up  a  sustainable  Web  presence  and  active  participation  in  primary
international  events  (e.g.  Frankfurt  Bookfair,  Milia  2000,  etc)  but  are  expected  to
gather momentum in the course of 2001.

8.2.4.  Essential technologies and infrastructures (KA IV)

Under this action support is given to projects dealing with:

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(cid:1)  Work  for  terrestrial  wireless  and  integrated  satellite  networks,  systems  and
services  often  addressing  the  interworking  of  terrestrial  networks  with  satellite
broadcast.

(cid:1)  computing,  communications  and  networking,  programmable  Virtual  Private
Networks  (VPN),  communications  capabilities  in  embedded  (Web)  systems,
interactive  gateways,  network  management  and  fixed/mobile  convergence,  and
core networks.

(cid:1)  Software,  systems  and  services  where  particular  foci  are  on  distributed  software
development  and  end-user  services,  and  specific  attention  is  paid  to  free  /  open
source software.

(cid:1)  Simulation  where  focus  is  on  the  real-time,  large-scale  dimension,  and  in
visualization  and  interfaces  bridging  the  gap  between  real  and  virtual  worlds  as
well  as  on  interoperability  between  audio-visual  services  on  different  networks
and between different metadata systems

(cid:1)  Mobile and personal communications and systems: work carried out to fulfil the
objective  of  integration  of  various  radio  and  network  access  technologies
contributing to the further longer term evolution towards 4th Generation wireless
systems and to the necessity for further development of software re-configurable
systems and networks.

8.2.5.  Research Networking

The two objectives of this action line are:

(cid:1)  to  upgrade  the  European  backbone  for  Research  to  gigabit/s  capacity.  The
launching  of  the  GEANT  Network  represents  the  achievement  of  an  important
milestone in the e-Europe 2000 action plan;

(cid:1)  to facilitate advanced network-based applications through test-beds needed to test,
validate  and  demonstrate  new  technologies  and  services  in  real-world  settings.
This  is  achieved  through  the  work  of  11  projects  launched  in  2000.  The  main
areas  addressed  are  optical  terabit  communications  (ATRIUM),  next  generation
networking  (NGN  Lab),  access  technologies  (TORRENT  and  MOICANE),  QoS
(SEQUIN),  IPv6  (LONG,  6WINIT),  grid 
technologies  and  applications
(EUROGRID, DATGRID and DAMIEN) and virtual communities (SCHOLNET
and MOICANE).

the 
More  details  of 
http://www.cordis.lu/ist/

IST  projects  can  be 

found 

in 

the 

IST  URL:

9. 

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

Final considerations

The  2000  annual  report  on  TEN  shows  in  detail  the  development  of  the  trans-
European  networks  –  as  well  as  the  related  financial  support  from  different
Community  sources.  Behind  a  rather  positive  picture  of  the  situation,  in  budgetary

33

terms, the Commission has identified a series of weaknesses and gaps, in particular
in the  TEN-transport implementation, that  require  tackling  with  care  in  the  coming
years.

As  far  as  TEN-transport  is  concerned,  one  of  the  most  critical  aspects  that  has
characterised  transport  in  past  years  is  the  significant  increase  of  road  freight
transport and the dramatic reduction of the share of the other modes – in particular
rail – leading to an increased imbalance between modes. The pressure of heavy lorry
and  car  traffic  not  only  on  the  main  trans-European  network  but  also  on  regional
infrastructure  and  inside  the  cities,  has  generated  a  high  level  of  congestion  and
severe  impacts  on  the  environment  and  the  daily  life  conditions  of  millions  of
European citizens.

Despite a significant level of investment  on  the rail network through Member  state
financing often combined with European funds, long delays in implementation have
been identified in particular where major cross-border projects are concerned. Based
on the current execution rate, some of the major projects which  appear in the  1996
TEN-T guidelines would not meet the 2010 deadline. It is likely to take at least  15
years before  all  the  specific projects identified  in  the  Annex  III  of  these  guidelines
are  completed.  Among  these  projects,  the  Alpine  crossings  (Lyon  –Torino  and  the
Brenner)  are  those  facing  major  delays.  Delays  which  are  due  to  the  larger
difficulties in terms of planning, co-ordination and financing in implementing trans-
European  cross-border  infrastructure,  as  well  as  to  the  limited  political  interest  for
these projects as compared to purely national ones.

The  present  rail  transport  network  has  limited  available  capacity  to  absorb  any
increase  of  trans-European  traffic  flows,  leading  to  a  reduction  of  attractiveness  of
rail for freight transport. Rail bottlenecks affect about one tenth of the total length of
the TEN-T network. The situation is difficult in the transit corridors from the North
to the South of Europe, in the Alps, but also in the Pyrenées, where the French and
Spanish  networks  are  not  interoperable  due  to  different  track  gauges.  Rail  nodes,
where  different categories of traffic meet,  are  also  severely  affected  by  bottlenecks
and they represent one of the major constraints for the development of rail freight. In
the  near  future,  due  to  the  enlargement  process,  the  East-West  rail  corridors  could
also be affected by congestion, given the foreseen increase of the exchanges between
the Community and the candidate countries.

To  tackle  these  problems  and  to  cope  with  the  challenges  of  transport  for  the  next
decade,  the  Commission  has  clearly  identified  the  development  of  rail,  and  in
particular the financing of rail infrastructure, as one of its main priorities. Since the
adoption of the TEN Financial Regulation in the middle of the 90’s, priority is given
– for the TEN-T budget - on rail. In 2000, around two thirds of the available funds
have  been  devoted 
the
recommendations of the European Parliament. These figures also include support to
traffic management projects which represent one of the sectors where improvements
are necessary to achieve a fully interoperable rail network.

target  fully  complies  with 

to  rail  projects; 

that 

However, in the past, the same degree of priority has not been given to rail by other
Community funds, in particular structural funds, despite the clear political orientation
of the Community towards more sustainable mobility since the early 1990’s.

34

TEN roads are also congested but the construction of additional high capacity trans-
European roads (apart from the need to connect remote, landlocked peripheral areas)
will not drastically improve the situation. This option only represents the last resort
which could soon lead to additional congestion. The real challenge is the transfer of
the  growth  of  long  distance  traffic  from  the  road  to  other,  more  environmentally
friendly modes, such as rail, inland waterway navigation or short sea shipping. This
re-balancing of modal shift appears to be the only viable long term solution. It will
require  a  better  use  of  the  existing  capacities  (which  are  large,  as  regards  inland
waterways  and  maritime  transport)  and  the  completion  of  missing  links,  as  well  as
more efficient intermodality.

A more co-ordinated planning – though this remains the responsibility of each single
Member  State  -  and  financing  approach  is  therefore  needed  in  the  future,  focusing
the  Community  support  on  the  more  environmentally  friendly  modes  on  the  main
TEN corridors (bearing in mind the forthcoming enlargement) and concentrating the
support to a more restricted number of projects, in particular those with low financial
profitability but high trans-European added value.

It therefore appears that both the TEN-T guidelines which determine the eligibility of
projects to Community funding and the management of Community financing need
to  evolve.  The  current  revision  of  the  guidelines  by  the  Parliament  and  Council
should  aim  at  identifying  a  smaller  number  of  major  projects  like  the  specific
projects  (the  so  called  14  « Essen »  projects  annexed  to  the  present  guidelines)  or
thematic priorities designed in view of  a sustainable development of the main TEN
corridors. A higher commitment of the interested authorities should also  be  sought.
As part of this process, a first amendment of the TEN-T guidelines is to be adopted
by the end of 2002.

As  far  as  the  TEN  financing  through  the  TEN-T  budget  is  concerned,  the  new
financial  regulation  entered  into  force  in  1999.  This  regulation  introduced  a  new
financing  management  instrument  to  support  TEN  projects,  namely  the  Indicative
Multiannual Programme (MIP) is a tool, which aims to concentrate up to 75% of the
total budget amount – 4.17 billion € - for the period 2000-2006 to specific priorities.
These  are  either  the  specific  projects(the  14  “Essen  projects”)  or  other  projects
presenting  a  high  degree  of  priority  and  community  added  value  such  as  the  « rail
bottlenecks », « cross-border » links or Intelligent Transport Systems.

In the near  future,  additional groups  of  projects could be added to this list – safety
(for all modes) and interoperability aspects should be amongst the new priorities. In
addition,  more  priority  should  also  be  given  to  the  development  of  a  « dedicated »
rail  freight  network.  Rail  freight  infrastructure  has  always  suffered  from  a  lower
degree  of  priority  with  respect  to  passenger  traffic.  The  result  is  that  passenger
transport  by  rail  -  in  particular  High  Speed  -  is  highly  competitive  with  respect  to
road or air transport, whereas rail freight is weak and loses market share. Further to
that, the MIP provides assurance to project promoters that funds will be available, on
an  indicative  basis,  over  several  years,  but  under  certain  clear  conditions.  A
« framework » decision was adopted on the 18 December 2000 , providing a clearer
picture  of  availability  of  funds  between  2001  and  2006,  and  guaranteeing  the
continuity  of  cofinancing  over  a  long  period  (this  was  not  the  case  until  now,  as
decisions granting  support  were  taken  on  a  yearly  basis).  This  financing  « tool »  is
extremely important, in particular, for large infrastructure projects.

35

The  question  of  the  level  of  financing  may  be  raised  at  this  stage.  The  Regulation
2236/95 modified  by  Regulation 1655/99, allows support of up  to 50% of  the  total
cost of studies and up to 10% of works. Despite the catalysing role of Commission
support, experience has shown that, for some projects, in particular cross-border rail
projects,  the  current  support  level  is  not  attractive  to  play  a  leverage  effect  and  to
attract  private  capital  -  in  particular  for  Public  Private  Partnership  (PPP)  -  despite
promising  traffic  forecasts.  The  increase  of  the  maximum  rate  of  Community
support,  -  not  taken  into  account  in  the  new  financial  regulation  is  therefore
particularly important and needs to be tackled in the near future.

The  financing  aspect  remains  the  key  element  to  build  a  more  competitive  rail
network. However, the use of other modes – inland waterways, short sea shipping –
having  large  available  capacities,  but  requiring  investment  to  improve  the
interconnections  with  the  land  modes  should  not  be  underestimated.  These  modes
very  likely  deserve  more  attention  from  the  Member  States  as  well  as  from  the
Commission.

Community funds (grants or loans) are nevertheless far from sufficient to finance all
the necessary TEN infrastructure. The cost of this infrastructure amounts to 400-450
billion  €,  only  for  the  Community,  to  which  100  billion  should  be  added  for  the
connections  with  and  within  the  candidate  countries.  Fully  public  financing
(including  Community  funds)  of  major  infrastructure  is  becoming  increasingly
difficult,  whereas  fully  private  investment  has  demonstrated  limits  and  does  not
attract  potential  investors.  Alternative  solutions  that  combine  public  and  private
funds,  where  risks  are  shared  but  where,  at  the  same  time,  a  certain  level  of
« safeguard » for the private investors is  also ensured, should be developed.  A  first
approach on PPP was developed by the Commission in 1997, through the stimulus of
Commissioner  Kinnock.  However,  the  present  form  of  PPP  still  does  not  seem
attractive  enough,  in  particular  for  transport  projects.  The  development  of  a
Community  framework  for  the  gradual  implementation  of  infrastructure  charging
appears  a  promising  way  to  overcome  the  shortage  of  public  financing  and  better
attract  private  investors.  Such  a  framework,  combined  with  an  innovative  way  of
financing  transport  project,  is  therefore  needed  and  new  proposals  from  the
Commission will be put forward in the near future. A good example of this new way
of financing is represented by the Øresund bridge – connecting Sweden to Danemark
–  which  was  supported  through  the  TEN-T  budget  and  was  opened  to  service  in
August 2000.

Despite significant progress in the implementation of the TEN-T, a lot still remains
to  be  done.  The  development  of  the  TEN-T  network  is,  and  will  be  in  the  coming
years one of the major challenges that the Community will have to tackle. Transport
infrastructure  is  likely  to  be  one  of  the  pillars  to  build  « bridges »  between  the
Community and the acceding countries, to allow people to travel, goods to move as
well  as  ideas  to  go  through  the  former  borders.  However,  the  development  of
infrastructure is one of the main condition – but not the only one – to ensure a good
functioning of the network. It requires an appropriate use of the infrastructure and a
high  service  quality,  which  can  only  be  reached  through  an  integrated  and  open
transport market. This is the condition to reach a high socio-economic return of the
high investments required by some modes, in particular the railways. It also needs a
clear definition of  transport and network  strategy  as  well  as  good  co-operation  and
co-ordination within the Community.

36

Finally, GALILEO, a project destined to have a heavy impact to the transport sector,
needs  to  be  mentioned.  It  is  a  clearly  trans-national  project  that  represents  the  first
satellite  positioning  and  navigation  system  ever  conceived  for  civil  purposes.  The
conclusions  of  the  Cologne,  Feira  and  Nice  European  Councils  underline  the
strategic importance of this project in political, economic and technological terms. In
fact, in political terms, the European Union intends to  develop a  system capable to
meet the need for precision, reliability and safety as well as ensure its independence
from the American monopoly; in economic terms, the development of the market of
the  applications  services  offered  by  the  GALILEO  system  will  yield  considerable
benefits; last, in technological terms, GALILEO will allow the European industry to
achieve its independence in the field concerned.

37