Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Trans-European networks - 2001 Annual Report {SEC(2003) 849}
Date: 2003-08-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, common transport policy, energy grid, report, trans-European network, transmission network, transport network

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 7.8.2003
COM(2003) 442 final

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

TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORKS
2001 ANNUAL REPORT

{SEC(2003) 849}

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary: An Overview of TEN in 2001 ................................................................. 5

1.

1.1.

1.2.

1.3.

2.

Progress with specific projects................................................................................... 11

Energy ........................................................................................................................ 11

Telecommunications .................................................................................................. 11

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

New directions and developments; legislation; TEN committees and joint working
group .......................................................................................................................... 13

2.1.

New directions and developments ............................................................................. 13

2.1.1.

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

2.1.2.

Telecommunications .................................................................................................. 14

2.1.3.

Transport .................................................................................................................... 15

2.2.

Legislation.................................................................................................................. 20

2.2.1. Revision of the TEN Financial Regulation ................................................................ 20

2.2.2. Revision of the TEN-E guidelines ............................................................................. 20

2.2.3. Revision of the TEN-Telecom guidelines.................................................................. 21

2.2.4. Revision of the TEN-T guidelines ............................................................................. 21

2.3.

Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Committees; Joint Working Group..... 22

2.3.1.

Energy 22

2.3.2.

Telecommunications .................................................................................................. 22

2.3.3.

Transport .................................................................................................................... 22

2.3.4.

Joint Working Group (Transport/Environment) ........................................................ 23

3.

3.1.

3.2.

3.3.

3.4.

3.5.

Financing the TEN ..................................................................................................... 23

Energy ........................................................................................................................ 23

Telecommunications .................................................................................................. 24

Transport .................................................................................................................... 24

IDA............................................................................................................................. 27

Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund ......................................................................... 27

3.5.1.

ERDF ....................................................................................................................... 27

3.5.2. Cohesion Fund ........................................................................................................... 27

3.6.

European Investment Bank (EIB) loans..................................................................... 29

2

3.7.

3.8.

Member State financing ............................................................................................. 31

Financing infrastructure in third countries................................................................. 31

3.8.1.

PHARE....................................................................................................................... 31

3.8.2. CARDS ...................................................................................................................... 31

3.8.3.

TACIS ....................................................................................................................... 32

3.8.4. MEDA ....................................................................................................................... 32

3.8.5.

ISPA ....................................................................................................................... 32

4.

4.1.

4.2.

4.3.

5.

5.1.

5.2.

5.3.

6.

6.1.

6.2.

7.

7.1.

7.2.

7.3.

Financing the TEN: Other issues ............................................................................... 36

Multiannual Indicative Programme for TEN-T (2001-2006) .................................... 36

TEN-T budget outside the MIP.................................................................................. 38

The TEN Risk Capital Facility................................................................................... 39

Evaluation .................................................................................................................. 40

Energy ........................................................................................................................ 40

Telecommunications .................................................................................................. 40

Transport .................................................................................................................... 40

External Relations ...................................................................................................... 41

Energy ........................................................................................................................ 41

Transport .................................................................................................................... 42

Other Union policies with a TEN dimension............................................................. 46

Environment............................................................................................................... 46

Research and Development........................................................................................ 46

Competition................................................................................................................ 47

3

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Community financing of the TEN in 2001 (EUR m) ................................................. 10

Table 2: TEN Energy Commitments (EUR m) ........................................................................ 24

Table 3: TEN-T 2001 – Financial support and number of proposed actions by category ....... 25

Table 4: TEN 2001 proposed actions and support by type and by form.................................. 26

Table 5: Transport Modes ........................................................................................................ 26

Table 6: Amounts committed through the Cohesion Fund to finance TEN-Transport, by

country........................................................................................................................ 28

Table 7: TEN financing decisions taken in 2001 under the Cohesion Fund, by country and by

mode, as percentages.................................................................................................. 28

Table 8: EIB lending for TEN (EUR m) .................................................................................. 30

Table 9: ISPA Budget 2001 – Transport sector, by sub-sector................................................ 33

Table 10: ISPA Budget 2001: Commitments by country......................................................... 33

Table 11: ISPA finance for transport projects decided in 2000 and 2001 ............................... 34

Table 12: TEN-T Multiannual Indicative Programme 2001-06- Framework Decision........... 37

4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY : AN OVERVIEW OF TEN IN 2001

The Commission is  submitting the  "Trans-European  Networks  (TEN)  2001  Annual
Report" to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  Regions  pursuant  to  Article 16  of  Regulation
No 2236/95 as amended by Regulation No 1655/99 of the European Parliament and
of  the  Council,  laying  down  general  rules  for  the  granting  of  Community  financial
aid in the field of trans-European networks.

2001 was the first  year of implementation of the 2001-2006 Multiannual  Indicative
Programme  (MIP)  for  Transport  TEN  set  up  under  the  TEN  Financial  Regulation
(Council  Regulation  No 2236/95).  The  MIP  was  established  to  streamline  and
improve the management of the transeuropean transport network: it encompasses the
on-going "Essen" priority projects plus the new policy 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.  More  details  on  the
MIP are given in section 4.1 and Annex X.

1.

CONCRETE PROGRESS ON SPECIFIC PROJECTS

Energy: by end 2001, 6 priority projects were in operation, 1 was under construction
and 3 were in the redefinition / authorisation phases.

Telecommunications: increased attention was paid to business plans by means of the
support  project  BPS  (Business  Planning  Service),  which  gave  expert  advice  to  the
project participants to help them redress this deficit.

Transport: 2001 can be described as a successful year for the implementation of the
14  projects  identified  by  the  Essen  European  Council.  Two  of  these  projects  were
completed, most of the others progressed well in line with the foreseen schedule, and
only a few encountered constraining problems or delays.

Details are given in section 1 and the annexes.

2.

NEW  DIRECTIONS  AND  DEVELOPMENTS;  LEGISLATION;  TEN  COMMITTEES  AND
JOINT WORKING GROUP

On 2 October the Commission presented a proposal for the modification of the TEN
Financial Regulation, i.e. regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
amending  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2236/95  laying  down  general  rules  for  the
granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks.

In addition, following its Communication on energy infrastructure (COM(2001) 775)
the Commission identified a number of gaps in the trans-European energy network. It
was  therefore  decided  to  extend  the  proposal  (including  the  20%  maximum  rate  of
support) to include priority energy projects

5

Energy:

The  Commission  proposed  on  20  December  2001  a  revision  to  the  Decision
1254/96/EC  on  Community  guidelines  for  the  development  of  the  trans-European
energy networks.

A  Communication  on  European  Energy  Infrastructure  COM(2001)  775  final  was
presented 20 December 2001.

The TEN-E financial assistance Committee met once in 2001.

Telecommunications:

The  Commission  completed  an  assessment  of  the  implementation  of  Decision
1336/97/EC during the period July 1997 to June 2000. On this basis, the Commission
put  forward  proposals  for  an  amendment  of  the  guidelines  for  trans-European
telecommunications networks on 10 December 2001.

The financial assistance Committee for telecommunications met three times.

Transport:

1.New directions and developments:

(cid:1)  The Commission’s White Paper on the European Transport Policy: In September
2001,  the  Commission  adopted  its  White  Paper  “European  Transport  Policy  for
2010:  time  to  decide”.  The  White  Paper  proposes  a  programme  of  some  60
measures  that  will  allow  a  gradual  decoupling  of  transport  growth  from  GDP
growth, as recommended in the Sustainable Development Strategy agreed by the
Gothenburg European Council in June 2001.

(cid:1)  Interoperability  of  TEN  Transport  rail  networks:  Interoperability  of  the  rail
networks is one of the key levers of a policy to integrate the national conventional
rail systems so as to make international services more competitive. In the case of
high-speed rail transport, the Community implemented  this  objective  in  1996 by
adopting  a  Directive  on  the  interoperability  of  the  high-speed  system.  The
essential  purpose  of  Directive  2001/16/EC,  adopted  on  19 March  2001,  was  to
extend the mechanisms created for the high-speed network to the conventional rail
network, with a few modifications.

(cid:1)  The  European  Railways  Traffic  Management  System  (ERTMS)  is  an  umbrella
programme  bringing  together  three  main  streams  of  development  activity  in  the
areas  of  control/command  and  signalling  (ERTMS/ETCS),  telecommunications
(GSM-R)  and  traffic  management  (ERTMS/ETML).  Overall,  work  in  2001
progressed on a sound track in terms of both horizontal and vertical streams.

(cid:1)  The  “rail  infrastructure  package”:  In  1998  the  Commission  presented  three  rail
infrastructure proposals: the "infrastructure package”. These three Directives were
ratified by the Council on 20 December 2000 and by the European Parliament at a
"mini-session" on 1 February 2001. They were published on 15 March 2001, and
entered into force on the same date. Member States were given two years in which
to transpose them.

6

(cid:1)  Air  traffic  management:  The  TEN-T  programme  is  an  important  financial
instrument  which  supports  the  implementation  of  an  efficient  trans-European
network  encompassing  national  ATM  systems,  particularly  by  promoting
interoperability, interconnection and technical advances.

(cid:1)  Airports: In line with the priorities set for airport policy, which also appear in the
Commission’s White Paper on Transport, particular care has been taken to foster
intermodality  and  protect  the  environment.  In  fact,  five  of  the  eight  newly
supported projects concern air/rail intermodality.

2. Legislation:

(cid:1)  Revision of the TEN Financial Regulation: To meet the challenges detailed in the
White Paper for the near future, on 2 October 20011 the Commission presented a
proposal2  for  a  regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council
amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 laying down general rules for the
granting  of  Community  financial  aid  in  the  field  of  trans-European  networks  to
increase  the  maximum  rate  of  Community  support,  in  exceptional  cases,  from
10% to 20 %.

(cid:1)  Revision of the TEN-T guidelines: On 2 October 2001 the Commission proposed
a revision of Decision 1692/96/EC on Community guidelines for the development
of the trans-European transport network. The proposal, which is contained in the
White Paper, concentrates investment on a few horizontal priorities and a limited
number of specific projects

3. Transport Committee: The financial assistance Committee for transport met three
times, and the TEN-T Guidelines Committee met once during 2001.

The  Joint  Working  Group  (  Transport  /Environment):  In  June  1998,  the  Cardiff
European Council invited the Transport, Energy and Agriculture Councils to develop
strategies to promote environmental integration and sustainable development within
their  respective  policy  areas.  In  response  to  this  request,  the  Transport  Council
developed  such  a  strategy  for  the  transport  sector  and  this  was  approved  at  its
meeting of October 1999. The Council provided for a regular review of the strategy
on the basis of reports from the Commission, with the first review to take place by
June 2001.

3.

FINANCING THE TEN

The appropriations allocated under the TEN 2001 budget amount to:

–  Transport: EUR 563 million;

–  Energy: EUR 19 million;

–  Telecommunications: EUR 30.4 million.

For a detailed overview of Community financing of the TEN in 2001, see Tables 1-5.

1

2

COM(2001) 545.
Amended  by  COM  2002/134.  Amended  by  the  EP  at  first  reading  in  July  2002.  The  proposal  is
currently  being  discussed  with  the  Financial  Counsellors  of  the  Permanent  Representations  at  the
Council.

7

                                                
A  number  of  actions  in  TEN  were  financed  by  the  Structural  Funds  and  Cohesion
Fund (Tables 6-7), and by the European Investment Bank (EIB) loans (Table 8).

Financing  infrastructure  in  third  countries;  The  PHARE,  CARDS,  TACIS,  MEDA,
ISPA instruments ensured financing of actions in candidate and third countries

4.

FINANCING THE TEN: OTHER ISSUES

Multiannual  Indicative  Programme  (MIP)  for  TEN-T  (2001-2006):  In  September
2001  the  European  Commission  adopted  Decision  No  2654  on  the  Indicative
Multiannual  Programme  for  the  funding  of  the  Trans-European  Transport  Network
over  the  2001-2006  period.  After  assessing  all  bids  received,  the  Commission
allocated indicatively  EUR 2 780  million to the successful  projects.  Nearly  50%  of
this amount  will  go to  the  large infrastructure projects endorsed  by the 1994  Essen
European Council, 20% will go to the Galileo programme and the rest will be shared
between  various  railway  bottlenecks,  cross-border  projects  and  intelligent  transport
systems.

The  budget  outside  the  MIP:  53  transport  infrastructure  projects  and  studies  were
selected  to  be  co-financed  through  the  ordinary  annual  part  of  the  TEN-T  2001
budget in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 laying down general
rules  for  the  granting  of  Community  financial  aid  in  the  field  of  trans-European
networks.

The TEN Risk Capital Facility:Due to the high leverage effect, the TEN Risk Capital
Facility  (RCF)  will  not  only  provide  additional  means  for  a  sector  where  market
failures  are  perceived  to  exist,  but  also  support  the  development  of  innovative
financial instruments in a sector that is traditionally focused on grants. In contrast to
interest-rate subsidies or other forms of grants, contributions made under this Facility
will also be recoverable.

5.

EVALUATION

Energy:  2001  was  a  transition  year  in  terms  of  evaluation  of  the  TEN-Energy
Programme,  as  the  mid-term  evaluation  was  carried  out  in  1999,  and  the  next  one
will not be done before 2003/2004.

Telecommunications:  All  projects  were  reviewed  at  least  once  in  2001.  In  total,
seven projects  were found to be  insufficient  either for technical  reasons  or  because
there  was  held  to  be  no  prospect  of  viable  services  resulting  from  them,  and  the
decision was taken to terminate them

Transport: Projects funded under the TEN-T budget line are not just examined at the
application stage; they are also subject to thorough mid–term and ex-post evaluation
to check conformity with the original objectives.

2001 was also a transition year, as the mid-term evaluation will take place in the year
2003/2004. However, every year TEN-T projects are examined and assessed through
Individual Project  Status  Report  submitted  by  the  promoters  with  the  agreement  of
the Member States concerned.

8

6.

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Regarding  the  development  of  the  networks,  the  Commission  proposal  for  the
revision of the TEN-E  Guidelines will strengthen the external dimension aspects of
the EU for five electricity projects.

Negotiations  for  the  enlargement  of  the  Union  are  progressing  well,  and  have
clarified the significant transport needs of the applicant countries 3.

In 2001 important investments along the Pan-European corridors have been made.

7.

OTHER UNION POLICIES WITH A TEN DIMENSION

Environment

In the allocation of the TEN budget for the year 2001, a special attention was paid to
the conformity of co-financed actions with Community environmental legislation. In
particular, a specific declaration by the authority in the Member State responsible for
monitoring of Natura 2000 sites was requested.

Research and Development

Under  the  fifth  Framework  Programme  for  Research,  Technological  Development
and Demonstration (1998-2002) many projects contributing to the development and
implementation  of  TEN-T  policies  had  been  already  initiated  in  several  key
actions and programmes. Other projects were launched during 2001 and will start to
provide useful results in the near future.

Competition

In the interest  of  consumers and  of the Community  as a  whole, TEN  projects  have
been  selected  and  managed  in  a  way  that  takes  fully  into  account  the  potential
benefits of competition. In this regard, proper access to TEN must be guaranteed in
accordance with the applicable rules in the relevant sector.

3

In view of the EU's enlargement in 2004, and to help prepare the proposal for a major revision of the
TEN-T guidelines in 2003, a High Level Group  will be constituted under the chairmanship of former
Commissioner Mr Karel Van Miert, with the participation of all Member States and, for the first time,
senior observers from the Accession countries

9

                                                
Sector

Type of assistance

Instrument

1993-1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

20014

Table 1: Community financing of the TEN in 2001 (EUR m)

Transport

Energy

Telecommunications

Telematic Networks

NB: n.a.= not available

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

EIB5-6
EIF5-6
ERDF6-7
Cohesion Fund
TEN budget line
B5-700
(Of which the specific
projects)
EIB5-6
EIF5-6
Structural Funds
TEN budget line
B5-710
EIB5-6-9
EIF5-6-8
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

1992
220
764
12

4 295
175
295
45

1415
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
38710
22

4989
55
n.a.
1287
581

2888

392
0
n.a.
14

2726
165
n.a.
35

5161
n.a
22009
1318
563

247

220
n.a
n.a
19

994
n.a
n.a
n.a

119

44

47

15

21

22

n.a

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Funds committed.
Signed contracts.
TEN and TEN-related projects.
Usually includes appropriations committed for the period 1996-1999.
Including rail traffic management.
Estimate.
TEN-related projects only.

10

                                                
1.  PROGRESS WITH SPECIFIC PROJECTS

1.1. 

Energy

By the end of 2001, the state of play with the Essen priority projects was as follows:
six  priority  projects  were  completed  (the  five  gas  projects  and  the  Portugal–Spain
electricity  link),  one  priority  project  was  being  implemented  (the  Italy–Greece
electricity  link)  and  three  priority  projects  were  in  the  redefinition/authorisation
phases (the France–Spain, France–Italy and East–West Denmark electricity links).

In fact, the Italy–Greece electricity link entered the final construction and test phases
during 2001, and went into operation in July 2002.

1.2. 

Telecommunications

An  intermediate  evaluation  conducted  by  independent  consultants11  revealed  that
although  the  primary  objective  of  projects  at  that  stage  was  the  production  of  a
business  plan,  these  business  plans  were  generally  the  weakest  element.  Increased
attention  was  therefore  paid  to  this  aspect  of  all  projects  by  means  of  the  BPS
(Business  Planning  Service)  support  project,  which  gave  expert  advice  to  project
participants to help them make good this shortcoming.

1.3. 

Transport

The  trans-European  transport  network 
the
construction,  modernisation  and  interconnection  of  Europe’s  major  transport
infrastructures.

is  an  ambitious  programme  for 

A. Essen priority projects

The  14  priority  projects  (PP)  presented  diverse  implementation  progress  rates  in
2001. Their progresses can be summarised as follows.

PP1  (Berlin-  Halle/Leipzig-  Erfurt  Nuremberg;  Munich-Verona  (Brenner  axis):
major works have been going on in particular in the Berlin node and on the Nürnberg
-  München  section.  The  technical  studies  for  the  Wörgl  -  Baumkirchen  section
(Austrian  access  route  to  planned  Brenner  base  tunnel  -  Lower  Inn  Valley  section)
have  been  completed;  negotiations  towards  the  building  permit  award  have  been
launched and are expected to be completed in early 2002. The technical, economical,
geological  and  environmental  studies  for  the  critical  section  of  the  whole  priority
project  -  the  Brenner  base  tunnel  -  have  been  progressing  according  to  plan;  the
organisation  in  charge  of  these  studies  -  Brenner  Base  Tunnel  European  Economic
Interest Grouping, seated in Innsbruck - expects to complete the first study phase in
2002. On the  Italian side, several  long  tunnels  have  been  build  to  improve  the  line
alignment  and  reduce  sections  with  high  gradient.  In  particular,  the  ‘Fleres’  tunnel
(7.4 km), completed in 2001 and the new line alignment at ‘Ceraino’, put in service
the previous year, permit to avoid former sections of line which could be considered
as bottlenecks.

11

Intermediate Evaluation of the TEN-Telecom Action, PLS Rambøll, May 2001.

11

                                                
PP 2 (High-speed train (Paris-Brussels-Cologne-Amsterdam-London): works on the
175 km long new Köln - Frankfurt line are progressing as planned; it is expected that
the  target  for  the  opening  of  the  line  (Summer  2002)  will  be  met.  Works  are  also
going on according to plan on the Dutch, UK and Belgian parts (the new Louvain -
Liège section planned to be opened et the end of 2002) so that, at this stage, it can be
expected that the full completion of the PBKAL project will be achieved by 2007.

PP3  (High-speed  train  south:  Madrid-Barcelona-Perpignan-Montpelier  Madrid-
Vitoria-Dax):  on  the  Mediterranean  branch,  the  Lleida-Barcelona  and  Barcelona-
Perpignan  sections  advanced  in  conformity  with  the  respective  schedules;  on  the
Atlantic  branch,  the  construction  of  the  section  Valladolid-Madrid  also  progressed
well,  while  the  section  Valladolid-Vitoria-Bilbao-Dax  was  still  under  study.  The
tendering  procedures  to  put  under  concession  Perpignan-Figueras,  the  international
section of TGV South, were initiated and the awarding is stipulated by mid-2002

PP  4  (High-speed  train  east:  Paris-Metz-Strasbourg-Appenweier-(Karlsruhe)  with
junctions  to  Metz-Saarbrücken-  Mannheim  and  Metz-Luxembourg):  German  part:
works  on  the  Northern  branch  (Saarbrücken  -  Ludwigshafen)  progressed  largely  as
planned. On the French part, the first preparatory works were launched.

PP5  (Conventional  rail/  combined  transport:  Betuwe  line):  works  started  in  1997.
The Dintelhaven was completed in 1999, and the Botkel tunnel will be terminated in
2002.

PP6  (High-speed  train/combined  transport:  France-Italy  Lyons  -  Turin):  a  treaty
committing France and Italy to build the section by 2015 was signed in Turin on 29
January 2001. Also, France and Italy agreed to replace the EEIG "Alpetunnel" by the
French law company Lyon-Turin Ferroviaire (LTF) equally shared by RFF (Réseau
Ferré de France ) and RFI (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana). LTF's mandate is to speed up
the  study  phase  of  the  project  to  be  in  a  position  to  start  the  works  in  2006  at  the
latest.

PP 7 (Greek motorways: Pathe and Via Egnatia): works on the two axes composing
the  project  progressed  well:  66  km  of  Via  Egnatia  and  34  km  of  PATHE  were
completed  in  2001.  By  end  of  2001,  Egnatia  has  achieved  50  percent  of  its
completion (some 340 km out the 680 that constitute the whole project), and PATHE
has been completed by 60 percent (some  460 km out of  the 774  that constitute  the
whole project).

PP8  (Portugal/Spain  multimodal  link  with  the  rest  of  Europe):  works  progressed
regularly in 2001. The the Spanish section of th road corridor Lisbon - Seville will be
completed in 2002, linking Seville to La Coruña in 7 hours travel. The central road
corridor Lisbon-Valladolid is expected to be completed in its several components by
end-2006.  On  the  rail  corridors,  improvement  on  several  sub-sections  will  be
completed  by  2002  mainly  in  the  Northern  lines  and  in  the  Southern  line  (Lisbon-
Faro) including the opening to traffic of the existing rail on the Tejo bridge linking
Lisbon to Coina.

PP9 (Conventional rail link Cork-Dublin-Belfast-Larne-Stranraer) was completed in
2001.

PP 10 (Malpensa airport) was completed in 2001.

12

PP11  (Fixed  rail/road  link  between  Denmark  and  Sweden),  the  Øresund  link,  went
into  service  on  schedule  in  July  2000,  and  after  one  year  of  operation,  road  traffic
across the link has increased significantly.

PP 12 on the Swedish side progressed according to its schedule. Concerning Finland,
the E 18 motorway section Paimio-Muurla of 35 km has advanced  and expected to
be delivered to the public at the end 2003 /beginning 2004.

PP13 progressed substantially in line with its implementation schedule despite some
delays.

PP 14 (West Coast Main Line) encountered some difficulties to keep in line with the
foreseen costs and timescale.

Detailed information of the TEN-T Essen priority projects is given in Annex II.

B. Intelligent Transport Systems

In  2001,  various  phases  of  projects  funded  before  the  MIP  was  adopted  were
completed, and the six projects begun within the MIP framework produced their first
results. The six  euro-regional projects now  covering 14  Member  States  have  led  to
the deployment on the trans-European road network (TERN) of inter alia traffic and
weather  monitoring  systems,  data  exchange,  and  traffic  control  and  information
applications (e.g. variable message signs). Particular  achievements have  been made
in the field of information systems and services, with a focus on the development of
Internet-based  information  services  provided  to  users  by  motorway  operators.  The
results  achieved  in  2001  also  indicate  the  substantial  development  of  and  potential
for using new sources for data collection and provision of services: for example, pilot
studies  have  focused  on  the  use  of  mobile  phones  to  calculate  and  provide  travel
times services on motorways.

2.  NEW  DIRECTIONS  AND  DEVELOPMENTS;  LEGISLATION;  TEN  COMMITTEES  AND  JOINT
WORKING GROUP

2.1. 

New directions and developments

2.1.1.  Energy

The European  Commission considered it  important to  address energy  infrastructure
issues  and  to  take  stock  of  the  present  situation  and  draw  political  attention  to  the
need  for  action  in  this  area.  A  Communication  on  European  energy  infrastructure
(COM(2001) 775) final was presented on 20 December 2001.

The analysis contained in the communication established clearly that the existing gas
and electricity infrastructure in the internal market is not being utilised in the  most
efficient manner. The very first steps must therefore be to guarantee transparency in
actual  network  utilisation  and  ensure  that  incentives  exist  to  remove  bottlenecks.
However,  more  efficient  use  of  existing  infrastructure  alone  will  not  be  enough  to
alleviate  congestion  and  meet  the  increasing  demand  for  gas  and  electricity.
Additional infrastructure is clearly required.

13

However, the measures being taken to  deal with these  bottlenecks  generally appear
inadequate, and greater action at both national and Community level is vital.

The  Commission  has  therefore  proposed  a  number  of  initiatives,  which  appear
necessary  in  order  to  improve  the  EU's  energy  infrastructure  situation.  These
initiatives can be grouped into the following five main areas:

(1) 

Action to improve the use of existing infrastructure;

(2) 

(3) 

Action to ensure a stable regulatory environment conducive to investment in
new infrastructure;

Action  to  re-focus  Community  financial  support  on  priority  projects.  This
will take the form of a revision of the TEN-Energy Guidelines to focus efforts
on  a  short  list  of  twelve  priority  projects  of  particular  European  interest.
Without increasing the overall budget for TEN-Energy, the Commission has
proposed  to  increase  the  ceiling  for  possible  EU  co-financing  from  10%  to
20% of the total investment costs of priority projects;

(4) 

Action  to  ensure  political  awareness  and  commitment  at  Community  and
national level;

(5) 

Action in relation to securing long-term gas supplies for Europe.

The completion of the internal market gives infrastructure development an important
Community dimension. It is essential that there be political will at Community  and
national  level  to  promote  the  consistent  development  and  efficient  use  of
infrastructure.

It is important that we continue to monitor security of supply and the situation with
regard  to  the  adequacy  of  energy  infrastructure.  The  Commission  has  therefore
proposed to report annually to the Council and the European Parliament on the state
of  Europe's  energy  infrastructure  and  to  invite  political  action  where  necessary  for
the continued provision of energy infrastructure as the basis for providing affordable
high-quality services and security of supply to consumers.

2.1.2.  Telecommunications

The  Commission  completed  an  assessment  of  the  implementation  of  Decision
1336/97/EC  over  the  period  July  1997–June  2000,  together  with  a  study  on  future
requirements  for  trans-European  networks  in  the  telecommunications  area.  On  this
basis,  on  10 December  2001  it  put  forward  a  proposal  for  an  amendment  of  the
guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks.

The main thrust of the Commission proposal is to focus support on services normally
provided by public authorities, in areas where competition does not normally apply.
The proposal addresses on-line government and administration services, services for
the  disabled  and  the  elderly,  health  services,  services  for  education  and  culture,
generic services, and the interconnection and interoperability of networks.

14

2.1.3.  Transport

a)

The Commission’s White Paper on the European Transport Policy

In  September  2001,  the  Commission  adopted  its  White  Paper  “European  Transport
Policy  for  2010:  time  to  decide”.  In  the  light  of  worsening  congestion  and  the
external costs of transport, it advocated a  change in the orientation of the Common
Transport Policy based on a re-balancing of the various transport modes away from
the predominance of road transport. If no measures are taken, road freight transport
could increase by 50% between 1998 and 2010 and the cost of road congestion could
double from its current level (equivalent to 0.5% of GDP).

The White Paper proposes a programme of some 60 measures, most of which can be
grouped  in  the  following  categories:  introduction  of  competition  in  the  railways
through  regulated  market  opening;  improvement  and  better  enforcement  of  social
and safety legislation in the road sector; promotion of intermodality, notably through
the  Marco  Polo  programme;  carrying  out  targeted  investment  in  the  TENs  for
railways and other alternatives to road infrastructure, as provided for in the revision
of the TEN Guidelines; creation of a Single European Sky; introducing a fair system
of  charging  for  the  use  of  infrastructure;  improving  safety  in  transport,  fixing  the
objective of a 50% reduction in road fatalities by 2010.

These  measures  will  allow  a  gradual  decoupling  of  transport  growth  from  GDP
growth,  as  recommended  in  the  Sustainable  Development  Strategy  agreed  by  the
Gothenburg European Council in June 2001.

The White Paper also announced that the Commission would propose a directive on
the interoperability of toll systems in order to support the overall pricing policy to be
implemented between 2001 and 2010. This directive is of paramount importance to
interoperability and continuity of service on the trans-European road network.

In October 2001 the Commission proposed a revision of the guidelines for the trans-
European network. This proposal, whose adoption by December 2002 was called for
by the Barcelona Council, reinforces the priority given to the first series of projects,
takes  stock  of  progress,  and  responds  to  new  challenges  with  plans  for  six  new
priority  projects,  including  deployment  of  the  Galileo  satellite  system  and  the
crossing of the Pyrenees by rail.

Facts and figures

The  projected  size  of  the  trans-European  transport  network  in
2010

75 200 kilometres of roads

79 400 kilometres of railways

430 airports

270 international seaports

210 inland ports

traffic  management  systems,  user  information  and  navigation
services

15

TEN-T – costs and financing

estimate)

total estimated costs

EUR  400  billion 

(1996

estimated total funding

EUR 16-20 billion per year

Community funding in 2000-2006:

trans-European networks budget

EUR 4.2 billion

Cohesion Fund

EUR 9 billion

Structural Funds

EUR 4-6 billion

annual loans by the European Investment Bank (in 2000)

EUR 6.6 billion

b)

Interoperability of TEN-Transport rail networks

Interoperability of the rail networks is one of the key levers of a policy to integrate
the  national  conventional  rail  systems  so  as  to  make  international  services  more
competitive.  Greater  interoperability,  i.e.  the  capacity  for  trains  to  cross  national
frontiers  without  stopping  or  without  the  ironing-out  of  technical  differences
generating excessive costs, produces a significant increase in transport performance.

In the case of high-speed rail transport, the Community implemented this objective in
1996 by adopting a  Directive  on the interoperability of the high-speed  system.  The
essential  purpose  of  Directive  2001/16/EC,  adopted  on  19 March  2001,  was  to
extend  the  mechanisms  created  for  the  high-speed  network  to  the  conventional  rail
network, with a few modifications.

These  Directives  introduced  Community  mechanisms  for  producing  and  adopting
technical  specifications  for  interoperability,  along  with  common  rules  for  assessing
compliance with those specifications. As was the case with the high-speed Directive,
Directive 2001/16 is the foundation of a three-tiered structure:

–  the Directive itself, with the essential requirements to be met by the system;

–  the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI);

–  all  the  other  European  specifications,  especially  the  European  standards  of  the

European standardisation bodies CEN, Cenelec and ETSI.

Regarding the interoperability of the high-speed rail system, 2001 saw the production
of  the  initial  version  of  the  TSI;  in  December  2001  the  Commission  presented  the
regulatory committee with six proposals for decisions relating to the high-speed TSI.
They received a unanimous favourable opinion. These proposals for decisions related
to the "control/command and signalling", "energy", "infrastructure",  "maintenance",
"operation" and "rolling stock" subsystems.

As for the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system, Directive
2001/16/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  was  adopted  on
19 March 2001 (OJ L 110, 20.04.2001, p. 1). The mandate to the AEIF(Association
européenne  pour  l’interopérabilité ferroviaire) to produce  the  first  group  of  priority

16

TSI for conventional rail elicited a favourable opinion from the regulatory committee
in June 2001. These TSI concern the following:

–  control/command and signalling;

–  telematic applications for freight services;

–  traffic operation  and management  (including  staff  qualifications  for  cross-border

services);

–  freight wagons;

–  noise problems deriving from rolling stock and infrastructure.

In  addition,  work  began  on  producing  an  architecture  representative  of  the
conventional network.

c)

The European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS)

in 

telecommunications 

the  areas  of  control/command  and 

ERTMS  is  an  umbrella  programme  bringing  together  three  main  streams  of
signalling
development  activity 
(ERTMS/ETCS), 
traffic  management
(ERTMS/ETML).  Such  applications  should  be  geared  towards  the  management  of
passenger and freight logistics across the value-chain of rail transport, contributing to
the creation of a sound foundation on which to build intermodal door-to-door value-
added  services.  This  approach  should  lead  to  a  significantly  higher  return  on
investments  which  are  primarily  safety  related,  whilst  optimising  through-transport
services and the efficiency of rail operations.

(GSM-R) 

and 

The programme has a triple objective:

–  to contribute to the interoperability of the trans-European rail network – not only
inside the EU borders, but also anticipating the longer-term integration of Central
and Eastern European networks;

–  the creation  of  a  single  market  for  procurement,  leading to significantly  reduced
equipment  costs  and  the  affordability  of  “state-of-the-art”  signalling  and
telecommunication  equipment  and  enabling  the  European  supply  industry  to
dominate world markets;

–  to  optimise  rail  operations  on  a  Europe-wide  scale,  encouraging  enhanced
profitability  and  customer  service  and  contributing  to  overall  environmental,
safety and energy efficiency objectives.

Overall, work in 2001 progressed  on  a sound track in terms  of both horizontal and
vertical  streams.  The  former  included  those  activities  aimed  at  producing  a  set  of
common test specifications, operational regulations and safety assessment procedures
to serve as a reference for the conformity assessment of ERTMS/ETCS products as
well  as  a  basis  for  putting  ERTMS/ETCS  installations  into  revenue  service.  The
latter  encompassed  the  completion  of  the  trackside  and  on-board  pilot  installations
enabling the start-up of  system integration and field tests  in  France,  Holland,  Italy,
Spain  and  the  UK.  Ancillary  works  included  the  continuation  of  feasibility  studies
for  the  implementation  of  ERTMS/ETCS  on  the  Belgian  rail  network,  as  well  as

17

support  for  similar  activities  carried  out  in  Central  and  Eastern  European  countries
under the aegis of ISPA. Finally, work continues to be conducted in conjunction with
the  on-going  legislative  work  on  the  interoperability  of  the  high-speed  and
conventional rail systems.

d)

The "rail infrastructure package"

(cid:1)  Legislative context

three  rail 

infrastructure  proposals: 

In  1998  the  Commission  presented 
the
"infrastructure package". The first proposal for a directive was designed to increase
transparency in the various activities of the railway sector by providing for separate
accounts for  infrastructure management and  rail services. The second  proposal  was
designed to extend the provisions of Directive 95/18/EC on licensing to  all railway
undertakings established in the Community, irrespective if whether they provide the
services referred to in Article 10 of Directive 91/440/EC, not least to prevent licences
becoming  an  obstacle  to  market  entry.  The  third  proposal  was  to  replace  Directive
95/19/EC  with  a  new  directive  on  the  allocation  of  railway  infrastructure  capacity
and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure (charges calculated on
the basis of marginal cost).

The Directives were ratified by the Council on 20 December 2000 and by Parliament
at a "mini-session" on 1 February 2001. They were published on 15 March 2001, and
entered  into  force  on  the  same  date.  Member  States  were  given  two  years  time  to
transpose them:

–  Directive  2001/12/EC  of  26 February  2001  amending  Council  Directive

91/440/EEC on the development of the Community's railways;

–  Directive 2001/13/EC of 26 February 2001 amending Council Directive 95/18/EC

on the licensing of railway undertakings;

–  Directive  2001/14/EC  of  26 February  2001  on  the  allocation  of  railway
infrastructure  capacity  and  the  levying  of  charges  for  the  use  of  railway
infrastructure and safety certification.

The main features of the "infrastructure package" are:

–  opening-up of the network: initially, international freight services will be opened
up  on  the  trans-European  rail  freight  network  defined  in  Directive  91/440,  as
amended.  It  was  agreed  that  seven  years  after  the  Directive's  entry  into  force,
railway undertakings will have access to the whole of the European  rail network
for the international carriage of goods;

–  the guarantee of access rights on the European freight network: access rights will
now be guaranteed to all licensed rail operators which so request and which meet
the safety conditions, while leaving Member States the option of granting broader
access rights;

–  separation of  essential functions  on the basis of a detailed  and exhaustive  list of
tasks to be entrusted to an authority other than the railway operator, in the interest
of  non-discrimination.  This  separation  is  accompanied  by  the  setting-up  of  an
independent regulator in each country.

18

Within this frame, account is taken of particular situations in certain Member States:

–  given the small size of its network, Luxembourg is exempted, during the transition
period in which the separation of essential functions is not yet complete, from the
obligation to set up an independent regulatory authority to ensure that separation;
the derogation lasts until August 2004;

–  given  their  isolation  from  the  rest  of  the  European  network,  Ireland  and  Greece
to
were  granted  a  similar  derogation (for  five  years,  renewable  subject 
authorisation from the Commission);

–  setting  of  fees:  the  basic  principle  of  levying  charges  at  marginal  cost  was
recognised  but  allowance  is  made  for  supplements  on  condition  that  the  market
supports  this  and  provided  the  setting  of  fees  remains  transparent  and  non-
discriminatory,  while  still  guaranteeing  the  competitiveness  of  the  international
carriage  of  freight.  The  agreement  includes  an  affirmation  of  the  principle  of
infrastructure  costs  being  covered  by  the  user,  while  recognising  that  this  is  a
long-term  objective  which  depends  on  levying  in  relation  to  the  other  transport
modes. The possibility was also allowed to reduce basic fees to encourage the use
of under-exploited lines.

–  safety:  Article 7(2)  of  the  Directive  amending  Directive  91/440/EEC  stipulates
that  safety rules  are  to  be  laid  down  by  bodies  other  than  the  railway  operators,
but are to be applied by the railway undertakings.

e)

Air Traffic Management(ATM)

The  TEN-T  programme  is  an  important  financial  instrument  which  supports  the
implementation of an efficient trans-European network encompassing national ATM
systems,  particularly  by  promoting  interoperability,  interconnection  and  technical
advances.

The situation of chronic network under-capacity calls for steps to be taken down two
separate but parallel avenues as part of the Single European Sky initiative:

removing and/or relieving major bottlenecks in the network wherever and whenever
capacity shortages materialise; this reactive, local and short-term approach involves
implementing national projects to upgrade existing facilities.

developing  and  implementing  the  new  generation  components  of  the  network  to
deliver uniform and significant capacity increases; this proactive, regional and long-
term  approach  involves  implementing  pre-operational  projects  and  studies  while  at
the same time implementing facilities on a regional basis.

From  the  operational  and  technical  points  of  view,  significant  improvements  were
achieved  through  the  preliminary  implementation  phase  of  Mode  S,  ADS-B  and
VDL Mode 4.

f)

Airports

In  line  with  the  priorities  set  for  airport  policy,  which  also  appear  in  the
Commission’s  White  Paper  on  Transport,  particular  care  has  been  taken  to  foster
intermodality and protect the environment. In fact, five of the eight newly supported

19

projects  concern  air/rail  intermodality.  Well  planned  and  convenient  intermodal
feeder  services  to  airports  can  help  produce  a  sizeable  fall  in  the  use  of  individual
transport modes, reduce road congestion and help reduce pollution around airports.

Eliminating bottlenecks has also been a priority. In fact, in 2001 three projects were
devoted  to  increasing  capacity  in  existing  airports,  while  one  project  concerned
intermodality in the framework of a future new airport.

2.2. 

Legislation

2.2.1.  Revision of the TEN Financial Regulation

Thought  also  needs  to  be  given  to  the  future  of  Community  financing,  and  in
particular the trans-European network budget. The Commission has proposed that the
financial contribution from the TEN budget be  raised to a maximum of 20% of the
total cost of key projects meeting certain conditions. Further questions regarding the
size of the various Community budgets available for transport infrastructure and their
coordination  after  enlargement  will  also  have  to  be  addressed.  In  this  context,  the
Commission is examining new solutions to facilitate the financing of infrastructure.
A  key  challenge  will  be  to  create  new  mechanisms  to  allow  additional  financing
through the promotion of public-private partnerships and the raising of new revenues
through a better reflection of transport costs in all modes.

To meet the challenges detailed in the White Paper for the near future, on 2 October
200112  the  Commission  presented  a  proposal13  for  a  regulation  of  the  European
Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 laying
down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-
European  networks  to  increase  the  maximum  rate  of  Community  support,  in
exceptional cases, from 10% to 20 % for:

(1) 

(2) 

cross-border  rail projects  crossing  natural  barriers  which  represent  obstacles
to  the  free  movement  of  passengers  and  goods  and  which  require  the
construction of long tunnels/bridges;

the  removal  of  specific  infrastructure  bottlenecks  in  areas  close  to  border
regions with acceding countries.

In addition, following its Communication on energy infrastructure (COM(2001) 775)
the Commission identified a number of gaps in the trans-European energy network. It
was  therefore  decided  to  extend  the  proposal  (including  the  20%  maximum  rate  of
support) to include priority energy projects.

2.2.2.  Revision of the TEN-E guidelines

On 20 December 2001 the Commission proposed a revision of Decision 1254/96/EC
laying down a series of guidelines for trans-European energy networks.

12
13

COM (2001) 545.
Amended  by  COM  2002/134.  Amended  by  the  EP  at  first  reading  in  July  2002.  The  proposal  is
currently  being  discussed  with  the  Financial  Counsellors  of  the  Permanent  Representations  at  the
Council.

20

                                                
The horizontal priorities proposed for the development of energy networks include:

–  support for the competitive operation of the internal energy market;

–  reinforcing security of energy supply.

On  this  basis  the  Commission  identified  12  priority  axes  (seven  for  electricity
networks and five for gas networks) considered to be of major European interest. It
also proposed  to  raise to 20%  the  maximum  support  that  projects  corresponding  to
these 12 priority axes may receive under the TEN programme.

In  addition several specific priorities were  proposed for  the  development  of  energy
networks, such as:

–  the establishment of energy networks in insular, outlying and outermost regions;

–  interoperability with the energy networks of candidate and other third countries;

–  development  of  electricity  networks  to  integrate/connect  renewable  energy

production;

–  development of gas networks to meet demand, and diversification of natural  gas

sources and supply routes.

The  Commission  also  proposed  an  updating  of  the  list  of  projects,  a  more  general
description of the projects, and a flexible procedure (committee procedure instead of
codecision) for updating the detailed description of projects.

The Commission adopted on 20 December 2001 a report to the European Parliament,
the Council, the Economic and Social Committee an the Committee of the Regions
on the implementation of the Guidelines for of the trans-European energy networks
in the periode 1996-2001.

2.2.3.  Revision of the TEN-Telecom guidelines

The  Commission  completed  an  assessment  of  the  implementation  of  Decision
1336/97/EC during the period July 1997 to June 2000, On this basis, the Commission
put  forward  proposals  for  an  amendment  of  the  guidelines  for  trans-European
telecommunications networks on 10 December 2001.."

2.2.4.  Revision of the TEN-T guidelines

On 2 October 2001 the Commission proposed a revision of Decision 1692/96/EC on
Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network.
The proposal, which is contained in  the White  Paper, concentrates investment on  a
few horizontal priorities and a limited number of specific projects, updating the list
adopted by the Essen and Dublin European Councils.

The new horizontal priorities for developing the network include:

(cid:1)  Concentration  of  investment  on  the  creation  of  a  rail  network  giving  priority  to

freight, including port connections;

21

(cid:1)  Development of a high-speed rail network for passengers, and integration between

rail and air transport capacity;

(cid:1)  Establishment of intelligent transport systems to optimise existing capacities.

The  new  list  of  specific  projects  comprises  the  uncompleted  Essen  and  Dublin
projects  plus  six  new  projects  identified  by  the  Commission.  The  new  specific
projects are: (1) the Galileo global navigation and positioning satellite system, (2) the
high-capacity rail link across the Pyrenees, (3) the Stuttgart–Munich–Salzburg/Linz–
Vienna  high-speed  train/combined  transport  project  for  Eastern  Europe,  (4)  the
Danube  river  improvement  between  Vilshofen  and  Straubing,  (5)  high-speed  rail
interoperability on the Iberian peninsula and (6) the Fehmarn Belt fixed link between
Germany and Denmark. This revision is only a  first step in revising the  guidelines,
and  therefore  a  transitional  step.  In  time  a  more  fundamental  revision  will  be
proposed.

2.3. 

Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Committees; Joint Working Group

2.3.1.  Energy

The TEN-E financial assistance Committee met once in 2001 (details of its financing
decisions  are  given  below  in  section  3.1).  The  TEN-Energy  Guidelines  Committee
did not meet.

2.3.2.  Telecommunications

The financial assistance Committee for telecommunications met three times.

It  also  gave  its  written  opinion  on  one  occasion,  and  in  total  the  Committee  gave
positive  opinions  on  the  commitment  of  EUR  30 382 466  (details  of  its  financing
decisions are given below in section 3.2).

2.3.3.  Transport

The  financial  assistance  Committee  for  transport  met  three  times  (details  of  its
financing decisions are given below in section 3.3).

The  Committee  referred  to  in  Article 18  of  the  guidelines  (TEN-T  Guidelines
Committee) met only once during 2001, on 14 November. It agreed on the contents
of, and the remaining data to be collected for, the report on the implementation of the
guidelines,  as  required  by  Article 18.  The  Committee  also  exchanged  views  on
environmental issues, especially on the contents of the new Directive 2001/42/EC on
the assessment of the effects of certain plans  and  programmes  on  the  environment.
Recent transport policy development issues were discussed; adaptation of the White
Paper  and  proposals  amending  Decision  1692/96/EC  on  Community  guidelines  for
the  development  of  the  TEN-T  and  Regulation  (EC)  No 2236/95  laying  down
general  rules  for  the  granting  of  Community  financial  aid  in  the  field  of  trans-
European networks.

Workshop

On 15 November, a workshop was held on TEN-T Indicators. Participants included
the  Member  States,  several  of  the  candidate  countries  and  representatives  from  the

22

industry. The  objective of the  workshop was to define  a  framework  for  monitoring
the current TEN-T guidelines and to identify a set of common indicators. The interim
results of a study commissioned by the Commission were presented. The aim of this
study  was  to  analyse  the  indicators  used  to  monitor  national  programmes  and  to
identify relevant indicators to monitor the development of the TEN-T. The workshop
was  an  important  part  of  the  indicator  validation  process.  Indicators  for  different
modes  of  transport  (rail,  road  and  inland  waterways)  were  discussed,  and  national
experience  with  infrastructure  policies  and  indicators  was  exchanged.  It  was
the  economy,
generally  agreed  that  the  most  relevant  indicators  fall  into 
environment, safety and social categories, and that pilot studies on corridors should
be carried out to identify relevant indicators.

2.3.4. 

Joint Working Group (Transport/Environment)

In  June  1998,  the  Cardiff  European  Council  invited  the  Transport,  Energy  and
Agriculture Councils to develop strategies to promote environmental integration and
sustainable  development  within  their  respective  policy  areas.  In  response  to  this
request, the Transport Council developed such a strategy for the transport sector and
this  was  approved  at  its  meeting  of  October  1999.  The  basis  for  this  strategy  was
largely  developed  by  an  expert  group  jointly  chaired  by  DG  TREN  and  DG  ENV.
The  members  of  the  expert  group  came  from  the  Ministries  of  Transport  and
Environment of the Member States.

Review of the strategy

The Council provided for a regular review of the strategy on the basis of reports from
the Commission, with the first review to take place by June 2001.

In April 2001, the Council adopted a Resolution on the integration strategy in which
it reaffirmed its earlier integration strategy and asked the Commission to  engage in
further  action.  Responding  to  this,  the  Commission  asked  the  expert  group  on
transport  and  environment  to  produce  a  further  report  in  which  the  experts  should
make  recommendations  concerning  the  use  of  environmental  targets  for  transport
policy,  a  legal  framework  for  the  Transport  Environment  Reporting  Mechanism
(TERM) and the impact of e-commerce. Three working groups provided reports on
these topics:

(cid:1)  Sector-specific environmental targets

(cid:1)  Providing an adequate legal basis for the TERM

(cid:1)  Impact of e-commerce on transport and the environment

3.  FINANCING THE TEN

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

3.1. 

Energy

The TEN financial assistance Committee met on 19 June and subsequently approved
13  feasibility  and  other  studies  for  which  the  Commission  proposed  financial

23

assistance of EUR 18.9 million. The corresponding Commission decision was taken
on 6 August. Further details are given in Annex V.

Table 2: TEN Energy Commitments (EUR m)

1995-97

1998

1999

2000

2001

Amount %

Amoun
t

%

Amount %

Amoun
t

%

Amoun
t

%

Electricity

14.4

42.8

10.8

Gas

25.9

57.2

7.8

58

42

7.9

20.9

27.4 7.3

53.7

8.4

72.6 6.3

46.3

10.5

44.4

55.6

TOTAL

45.3

100

18.6

100

28.8

100

13.6

100

18.9

100

3.2. 

Telecommunications

The  TEN  Financial  Committee  met  three  times  in  its  telecommunications
composition,  on  27 March,  6 June  and  3 October.  The  October  meeting  was
informal.

At  the  March  meeting  the  Committee  delivered  a  favourable  opinion  on  the
Commission  proposal  to  grant  Community  aid  to  35  projects  of  common  interest
selected  from  among  the  responses  to  the  2000/2  call.  The  total  support  proposed
was EUR 29.5 million. The Commission informed the Committee of its intention to
introduce  a  fixed  rate  of  overheads  to  be  applied  in  shared-cost  contracts.  The
Committee discussed this and asked for an analysis of the impact this might have on
potential participants in projects.

At  the  June  meeting  the  Commission  presented  the  Committee  with  its  analysis  of
the impact of the change to fixed-rate overhead reimbursement. This showed that the
change would be cost neutral if applied to the existing selection of projects, and those
larger organisations in particular  would not be significantly affected by the change.
The  Committee  then  endorsed  the  Commission  proposal,  which  was  subsequently
applied in the 2001/2 call.

At the October meeting the Commission presented the results of the 2001/1 call for
proposals.  A  first  batch  of  proposals  selected  for  a  Community  contribution  as  a
result of this call were later submitted to the Committee for a written opinion, for a
total amount of EUR 0.9 million.

3.3. 

Transport

As regards transport, the Commission received 439 requests for financial assistance
in  2001  (242  for  MIP  and  197  non-MIP,  see  point  4  for  further  details),  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 2001 and
helped  successfully  to  reduce  the  number  of  decisions  (only  18  actions  received
support  of  less  than  EUR  1 million).  The  total  requested  support  was  EUR
2 270 million  (EUR  1 016  million  for  MIP  actions  and  EUR  1 254  million  for  non

24

MIP).  The  TEN-T  financial  assistance  Committee  met  three  times  in  2001.  Two
favourable  opinions  were  delivered  covering  137  projects  and  studies  (53  non-MIP
and 84 MIP), for which the Commission proposed financial assistance totalling EUR
563  million.  As  can  be  seen  from  Table 3,  the  Commission  has  continued  to
concentrate a large part of its available resources (44%) on the 14  specific “Essen”
projects.  While  priority  projects  (three  of  which  have  been  completed:  Malpensa
airport, Cork–Dublin–Belfast–Larne railway line and Oresund Fixed Link) and other
projects  absorbed  a  smaller  share  of  commitment  appropriations  than  in  previous
years, the share going to ITS (intelligent transport systems) actions increased.

Table 3:  TEN-T 2001  –  Financial support  and number  of  proposed  actions  by
category

2001
PROPOSA
L

Specific Projects

Traffic
Management

Other

Total

Number of
actions

Support
(EUR m)

Number of
actions

Support
(EUR
m)

Number of
actions

Support
(EUR
m)

Number of
actions

Support
(EUR
m)

37¹

247.5 ²

24

155.5 ³

79 *

160 4

140

563

43.95%

27.59%

28.46%

100%

MIP  2001
(EUR m)

36

Annual
budget 2001

1

221.5

19

132.5

29

61

84

415

26

5

22.5

50

99.5

56 *

148 **

¹ Includes one RAILTraffic Management action

² Includes EUR 1 million from previous year

³ includes EUR 6 million from previous year

4 Includes EUR 4 million from previous year

* Includes three decisions from previous year

** Includes the total amount of EUR 11 million from previous year

25

Table 4: TEN 2001 proposed actions and support by type and by form

TYPE

N° of Actions

Support (EUR m) %

Feasibility Studies / Technical Support Measures

Projects

TOTAL

FORM

Interest Rate Subsidies

Feasibility Studies /Technical Support Measures

Direct Grants

TOTAL

Table 5: Transport Modes

65

77

142

274

289

563

48.71%

51.28%

100%

N° of Actions

Support (EUR m)

%

1

65

76

142

15

274

274

563

2.66%

48.70%

48.62 %

100.0%

MIP

non-MIP

TOTAL

of

N° 
Actions

Support
(EUR m)

N° 
Actions

of

Support
(EUR m)

N° 
Actions

of

Support
(EUR m)

%

Mode

Airports

Air Traffic Management

Combined Transport

GNSS

Inland Waterways

Multimodal

Road

2

3

2

1

1

2.500

5.800

100.000

1.000

0.300

6

3

1

2

6

2

11.230

5.170

1.000

16.000

9.810

2.500

10

39.500

11

28.5035

Road Traffic Management 12

25.293

Ports

Rail

8

10.900

52

239.871

18

38.090

Rail Traffic Management

1

0.6000

1

25.000

8

6

1

4

7

3

21

12

8

70

2

13.73

2.44%

10.97

1.95%

1.00

0.17%

116.00

20.60%

10.81

1.91%

2.8

0.49%

68.0035

12.07%

25.293

4.49%

10.90

1.93%

277.9609

49.36%

25.6

4.54%

TOTAL

84

414.864

53

148.2035

142

563.0674

100%

26

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 2001 budget regarding percentage share between modes and
maximum  support  for  priority  projects.  In  general,  the  European  Parliament's
remarks on the 2001 budget were also observed as regards modal share.

3.4. 

IDA

IDA  projects  (sectorial  and  horizontal  actions)  are  financed  independently  of  the
TEN Financial Assistance Regulation.

3.5. 

Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund are the
main  sources  of  Community  subventions  for  TEN  projects.  Over  the  period  2000-
2006,  major  financial  support  for  infrastructure  will  be  forthcoming  from  the
Structural  Funds  in  the  context  of  Objective 1,  totalling  about  one  third  of  the
available  resources,  and  half  of  it  will  be  dedicated  to  supporting  transport
infrastructure. At the same time, the Cohesion Fund will contribute EUR 9 billion to
the development of the trans-European transport networks.

3.5.1.  ERDF

In  terms  of  the  Structural  Funds,  2001  was  marked  mainly  by  the  completion  of
negotiations  with  the  Member  States  within  the  framework  of  Objective 1,  which
accounts  for  70%  of  the  Structural  Funds  budget  for  the  2000-2006  programming
period.  In  terms  of  implementation,  adoption  of  all  the  single  programming
documents and operational programmes enabled all the planned appropriations to be
committed.

However,  the  fact  that  expenditure  through  the  Regional  Development  Fund  is  not
broken  down  by  financed  TEN  project  makes  it  very  hard  to  place  figures  on  the
amounts invested in TEN projects via the ERDF. Examination of the annual reports
on implementation of the main programmes financing infrastructure in the context of
Objective 1  can  provide  no  more  than  an  estimate  (about  EUR  2  billion)  of  ERDF
support given to the trans-European transport network in 2001.

3.5.2.  Cohesion Fund

In  2001,  commitments  under  the  Cohesion  Fund  for  TEN  in  the  transport  sector
totalled EUR 1 318 million, distributed among the Member States as follows: 61.5%
for  Spanish  projects,  16.5%  for  Portuguese  projects,  16.2%  for  Greek  projects  and
5.7% for Irish projects.

27

Table 6:  Amounts  committed  through  the  Cohesion  Fund  to  finance  TEN-
Transport, by country

Commitments  up  to
1999 (EUR m)

Commitments 
2000 (EUR m)

in

Commitments 
2001 (EUR m)

in

Greece

1 535

Spain

4 606

Ireland

748

Portugal

1 446

155

852

34

246

214

810

75

218

Total

8 334

1 287

1 318

The Commission took new financing decisions representing a multiannual amount of
aid worth EUR 1 958 million. The distribution of this subvention among the modes
showed increased support for the railways, in line with policy guidelines: aid to rail
transport  accounted  for  55%  of  the  sum  total,  while  the  roads  received  34%  and
maritime transport 11%.

Table 7:  TEN  financing  decisions  taken  in  2001  under  the  Cohesion  Fund,  by
country and by mode, as percentages

Route

Rail

Air

Ports

Greece

Spain

Ireland

85.7

13.9

14.3

68.0

100.0

0

Portugal

0

% by mode

33.6

92.6

55.1

0

0

0

0

0

0

18.1

0

7.4

11.3

In Greece, the majority of financing decisions in 2001 once again concerned projects
relating  to the  creation  of  the  "Pathe/Via  Egnatia"  motorway  network,  identified  as
priority project No 7 in Essen. At the same time, rail transport continued to receive
Community support with approval of the project for the new Limena Ikoniou line.

The Commission approved two motorway projects in Spain: part of the route across
Catalonia (between Cervera and Santa María del Camí), and the Zaragoza ring road,
which will serve to link the various major routes which converge at Zaragoza, in line
with the priorities of pressing forward with the link routes to France and connecting
the  trans-European  road networks. Regarding the  Madrid–Barcelona–French  border
high-speed  rail  track,  a  very  major  effort  was  made  to  extend  the  work  towards
Barcelona.  Lastly,  the  Cohesion  Fund  provided  financing  for  the  project  to  expand
the port of Barcelona.

28

In  Ireland,  the  small  sums  allocated  are  insufficient  to  ensure  modal  balance  every
year. In 2001 only one new project was approved: the construction of the south-east
M50 motorway, the missing link in the Dublin motorway bypass.

As  in  2000,  the  Cohesion  Fund's  efforts  in  Portugal  in  2001  focused  on  rail
investment,  with  priority  going  to  two  strategically  important  lines  forming  part  of
priority  project  No 8:  the  Northern  line  and  the  Algarve  line.  The  railways  thus
received  almost  93%  of  the  aid  grants  decided  in  2001.  The  remainder  formed  the
Community contribution to the project to improve services to the port of Aveiro.

3.6. 

European Investment Bank (EIB) loans

The  development  of  large  infrastructure  of  common  interest,  of  which  the  trans-
European  network  constitutes  the  main  part,  remains  one  of  the  EIB’s  priority
objectives.  In  2001,  the  EIB  Board  of  Directors  approved  a  total  of  EUR
7 900 million in favour of TENs and related projects in the Union. Finance contracts
were  signed  for  a  total  of  EUR  6 375  million,  representing  20%  of  the  Bank’s
activity  in  the  Member  States.  These  figures  compare  with  EUR  8 597  million
approved and EUR 6 613 million signed in 2000. In other words, there was a slight
decrease in both project approvals (-8%) and signatures (-4%), reflecting a slowdown
in the financing of telecommunication TEN projects.

The EIB was also very active in the Accession Countries, with loans approved to a
value  of  EUR  1 530  million,  and  EUR  1 383  million  signed  for  projects  of  trans-
European  interest.  As  in  the  Member  States,  this  represents  a  slight  reduction  in
activity due to the telecom sector.

Since 1993 the Bank has approved loans for TENs totalling EUR 74 426 million and
signed finance contracts for a  cumulated EUR 57 308 million. The total investment
cost of the corresponding projects is estimated at around EUR 250 billion.

The EIB has taken a proactive role in the financial engineering of TEN projects, most
notably in those based on PPPs, to be found mainly in the transport sector. In 2001,
30%  of  EIB  financing  for  transport  TEN  projects  dealt  with  PPP  structures,  in
Germany,  Greece,  the  Netherlands,  Portugal  and  Spain.  The  Bank  has  also  been  at
the  fore  in  the  development  of  innovative  instruments  such  as  the  development  of
refinancing  structures  to  give  commercial  financiers  a  defined  exit  from  long-term
financing.  The  EIB  is  also  facilitating  cross-fertilisation,  sharing  its  experience  in
PPP financing with new promoters in the EU and Accession Countries.

Loans  approved  by  the  EIB  in  2001  for  TENs  in  the  transport  sector  totalled  EUR
6 418 million in the Union (EUR 6 718 million in 2000, i.e. a 5% decrease), resulting
in  a  total  of  EUR  50 000  million  approved  for  that  sector  since  1993.  Finance
contract signatures amounted to EUR 5 161 million in 2001 (EUR 4 010 million in
2000, a 29% increase), bringing the signed total to EUR 35 680 million since 1993.
The significant increase in signatures has been particularly apparent for the priority
projects identified at the Essen Council, with a rise of 130% compared with the 2000
figures. The fact that 2001 was by far the record year for signatures for Essen priority
projects,  whilst  requiring  fewer  new  loan  approvals,  probably  indicates  a  certain
maturity of the set of projects that are under construction and, for the others, a lack of
progress in the implementation process, with, for some of them, considerable delays.

29

In Central and Eastern European Countries, the Bank’s signatures for projects on the
10 transport corridors approved by the Pan-European Transport Conferences of Crete
and Helsinki amounted to EUR 1 200 million, a 23% increase over 2000.

In  the  energy  sector,  in  2001,  new  loans  were  approved  to  a  value  of  EUR
240 million, of which  EUR  220  million was  signed  for  two  gas  TEN  projects.  The
Bank  also  approved  about  EUR  900  million  and  signed  a  similar  amount  for  the
development  of  national  electricity  transmission,  subtransmission  and  distribution
networks, though it is not possible to identify the amount specific to the transmission
networks. In the TEN energy sector, the cumulated amount since 1993 is EUR 6 593
million for approvals and EUR 5 440 million for signatures.

In 2001, the EIB also provided new loans for EU telecommunication networks, with
approvals to a value of  EUR  1 241 million  (EUR  1 580  million  in  2000)  and  EUR
994 million  of  signed  loans  (EUR  2 211  million  in  2000).  The  financial  turmoil  in
the  telecommunication  sector  explains  the  significant  reduction  in  activity.  Total
approvals  since  1993  reached  a  value  of  EUR  17 835  million,  of  which  EUR
16 190 million has been signed.

Contributing  to  the  development  of  TENs  will  continue  to  be  one  of  the  EIB’s
priority  objectives  in  the  medium  term,  in  both  existing  and  future  EU  Member
States. A regular increase of TEN lending activity is foreseen, with a particular focus
on priority projects and on Accession Countries.

Table 8: EIB lending for TEN (EUR m)

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

2001 TOTAL

EU

3280 4754 5568 6522 7677 8242 8277 6613

6375

57308

Transport
Essen projects

1908 1939 3819 3505 4943 4415 5977 4010
1224
1346

1189

1137

1603

1142

1751

1616

Energy
Essen projects

367
207

715
315

910 1415
695
523

854
300

393
100

174
75

392
25

5161
2838

220
0

35677
13846

5440
2240

Telecom

1005 2100

839 1602 1880 3434 2126 2211

994

16191

CEEC

579

777

400

668

774 1507 1456 1494

1383

9038

Transport

469

397

270

553

417 1357 1321

979

1200

6963

Energy

80

Telecom

110

300

130

115

357

150

135

515

183

1995

30

3.7.  Member State financing

Community financing of TENs  represents in most cases a rather limited proportion
of  the  total  cost,  except  for  projects  in  the  "cohesion"  countries.  The  role  of
Community  finance  is  to  act  as  a  catalyst  to  lever  other  investment  sources.  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 for the Member States' expenditure on TEN are
difficult  to  obtain,  as  Member  States  do  not  always  make  the  difference  between
TEN and non-TEN infrastructure.

3.8. 

Financing infrastructure in third countries

3.8.1.  PHARE

The EU has been helping potential applicant countries of Central Europe to prepare
for joining the Union since 1989 when the PHARE programme (Poland and Hungary
Assistance  for  the  Reconstruction  of  the  Economy)  was  established.  Following  a
decision of the 1997 Luxembourg European Council to formally launch the present
enlargement  process,  Phare  was  given  new  orientations  and  a  specifically  “pre-
accession” focus in 1998. Phare  focuses  on  institution  building  (30  %)  and  acquis-
related  investments  (70  %),  including  those  relating  to  cross-border  co-operation
(CBC).  The  budget  for  2001  was  EUR  1  641  million,  of  which  the  transport  share
was  very  small,  approximately  EUR  36  million.  The  focus  of  support  is  moving
towards  increasingly  programmed  operations  of  the  type  managed  under  the
structural funds, with greater reliance on local planning and management (economic
and social cohesion programmes - ESC).

3.8.2.  CARDS

2001 was the first year of implementation of the new CARDS Regulation adopted on
5 December  2000. Covering  the  period  2002-2006,  a  Regional  Strategy  paper  and
Country Strategy papers for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, fYROM and
the  F.R.  Yugoslavia  were  approved  during  the  last  quarter  of  2001.  One  of  the
specific  regional  cooperation  objectives  of  the  CARDS  regional  strategy  is  “to  re-
integrate  the  SAp  countries  into  the  European  infrastructure  networks,  namely  for
transport,  border  management  and  energy”  by  assisting  them  “in  developing
coherent  strategies  for  infrastructure  with  an  international  dimension  in  transport
and energy.”

Support focuses on producing strategies and preparatory studies, as well as catalytic
investments  with  a  view  to  reconnecting  the  region’s  transport,  energy  and
environmental infrastructure into the pan-European networks. One key assumption is
that  IFIs  are  best  placed  to  address  financing  requirements  for  infrastructure
investment.  Significant  investments  will  nevertheless  continue  in  the  case  of  FRY
and  Kosovo  to  complete  reconstruction  work  already  begun.  Limited  cross-border
infrastructure  projects  may  also  be  funded  under  Integrated  Border  management
programmes.  Finally,  the  CARDS  programme,  by  concentrating  significantly  on
institution  building,  also  addresses  key  concerns 
infrastructure
development.

regarding 

31

3.8.3.  TACIS

The new Tacis Regulation came into force on 21 January 2000. It covers the period
2000-2006  and  has  a  total  budget  of  EUR  3 318  million.  The  new  Regulation
increased the proportion 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  cooperation,
including border infrastructure. To facilitate trade, and revenue collection systems at
the borders, the Commission continues to pay particular attention to the functioning
of border crossing points.

Priority  is  given  to  those  border  crossings  which  form  part  of  the  Pan-European
Transport Network, namely corridors I,  II, III, V and IX. Up to and including 2001
the  Commission  made  more  then  EUR  90  million  available  for  that  purpose,  of
which EUR 15 million was from the Tacis 2001 budget.

3.8.4.  MEDA

Spending through the MEDA programme to link the countries of the Mediterranean
basin more closely to the Union is at present limited to a small number of feasibility
studies.

3.8.5. 

ISPA

ISPA  (Instrument  for  Structural  Policy  for  Pre-Accession),  one  of  the  three  pre-
accession instruments, is tailored on the pattern of the Cohesion Fund and is aimed,
for  50%  of  its  allocation,  at  upgrading  the  transport  network  of  trans-European
interest in the ten countries of Central and Eastern Europe that are candidates to join
the European  Union.  The  other 50% is for  environmental  projects. Over  the  period
from 2000 to 2006, a total of EUR 1 040 million a year (at 1999 prices) will be made
available  for  infrastructure  projects  in  the  field  of  environment  and  transport,  i.e.
about EUR 520 million per year for transport projects.

In  2000  and  2001,  the  Commission  decided  on  169  projects  proposed  by  the
Candidate Countries, amounting to a total project cost of EUR 6.6 billion, of which
the  EU  will  finance  EUR  3.9 billion  or  59%.  More  than  half  the  decided  ISPA
support is allocated to rail projects, and about 47% to road infrastructure.

Of  these  169  interventions  of  the  first  two  years  of  ISPA,  64  relate  to  transport
projects,  equivalent  to  EUR  4.1  billion  of  total  project  costs,  of  which  EUR  2.4
billion  is  provided  through  an  ISPA  grant.  This  includes  16  technical  assistance
projects,  mainly  for  project  preparation  tasks.  In  2001,  29  transport  projects  were
decided with a total ISPA grant of EUR 1.3 billion.

ISPA's aim in the transport sector is to help build the future trans-European transport
network.  The  instrument  finances  transport  infrastructure  projects  promoting
sustainable  mobility  based  on  the  criteria  of  Decision  No 1692/96  of  the  European
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  July  1996  (Community  guidelines  for  the
development of the trans-European transport network). The measures should enable
the beneficiary countries to comply with the objectives of the Accession Partnerships
and  must  ensure  interconnection  and  interoperability  within  national  networks  as
well as between these networks and the EU’s.

32

The  preparation  of  projects  needs  to  take  account  of  the  ten  multimodal  pan-
European  transport  corridors,  endorsed  at  the  third  Pan-European  Transport
Conference at Helsinki in June 1997. Projects  to  be financed  by  ISPA as a  priority
need  to  be  on  the  backbone  network,  as  identified  by  the  TINA  (Transport
Infrastructure Needs Assessment) exercise, but can also relate to projects on the rest
of the TINA network. The ISPA funds spent in the transport sector have focused on
the  extension  and  improvement  of  the  TINA  network,  in  order  to  facilitate  the
connection between the European Union and the Accession Countries.

Table 9: ISPA Budget 2001 – Transport sector, by sub-sector

Sub-Sector

ISPA  Funds
EUR

%  ISPA  funds/
sector

Road

Rail

Airport

303 699 301

57.25%

210 662 746

39.71%

12 000 000

2.26%

Rail/Road

4 158 400

0.78%

Total  ISPA  Budget
Transport Sector

530 520 447

47.83%

Table 10: ISPA Budget 2001: Commitments by country

Country

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Estonia

Hungary

Latvia

Lithuania

Poland

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

TOTAL

ISPA
Funds EUR

61 898 400

40 271 315

12 228 287

48 171 347

21 663 645

14 483 464

177 561 679

122 812 000

24 698 070

6 732 240

530 520 447

The  table  gives  figures  for  commitments  for  projects  decided  in  2001  and  the  second  tranches  for
projects  decided  in  2000,  project  funds  being  committed  from  the  Community  budget  over  several
years.

Over  half  the  ISPA  budget  for  the  transport  sector  in  2001  was  dedicated  to  road
projects involving new construction or improvements to meet EU capacity and safety
standards.  About  40%  of  the  funding  was  assigned  to  rail  projects,  involving
primarily the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing infrastructure to EU standards.

33

Table 11: ISPA finance for transport projects decided in 2000 and 2001

PROJECT

TYPE

Total

of
No 
Projects

Project

Cost EUR

Commitments

Commitments

ISPA

2000

EUR

2001

EUR

Total 
Funds

decided

EUR

Airport

Rail

1

32

148 756 000 50 000 000

28 000 000

12 000 000

2  154  232
540

1 230 824 787

283 584 312

210 662 746

Rail and road

2

6 080 000

5 198 000

0

4 158 400

Road

29

Sector Total

64

1  756  680
109

4  065  748
649

1 139 915 934

224 790 797

303 699 301

2 425 938 721

536 375 109

530 520 447

The table shows the total ISPA funds committed and decided in 2000 and 2001 for transport projects
(64 projects), as well as the total project costs for these projects.

ISPA funds 2000-2001

Project type

No 
projects

of

Total 
contribution

ISPA

% per sector

TRANSPORT

Airport

Rail

Rail and road

Road

Sector Total

1

32

2

29

64

50 000 000

2.06%

1 230 824 787

50.74%

5 198 000

0.21%

1 139 915 934

46.99%

2 425 938 721

61.61%

34

Projects per Corridor, total ISPA contribution 2000-2001

Corridor

Road

Rail

Corridor I

32 600 556

Corridor II

161 746 249

Corridor III

320 411 250

92 837 250

Corridor IV

366 491 403

383 680 941

Corridor V

92 110 300

Corridor VI

233 695 790

160 945 224

Corridor IX

152 036 430

87 311 201

Total

1 105 235 429 978 631 165

Projects per country 2000-2001

Country

Airport

Rail

Road

Rail 
road

and

Total

Bulgaria

50 000 000

153 000 000

30 000 000

4 998 000

237 998 000

Czech Republic

45 207 500

57 931 474

200 000

103 338 974

Estonia

Hungary

Latvia

Lithuania

Poland

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

1 350 000

34 173 021

191 442 575

20 149 540

101 843 476

19 961 541

24 314 780

50 957 600

344 498 499

510 744 750

232 329 441

409 926 024

96 996 000

27 149 200

18 765 300

35 523 021

211 592 115

121 805 017

75 272 380

855 243 249

642 255 465

124 145 200

18 765 300

Total

50 000 000

1 209 747 571

1 160 993 150

5 198 000

2 425 938 721

35

4.  FINANCING THE TEN: OTHER ISSUES

4.1.  Multiannual Indicative Programme for TEN-T (2001-2006)

In September 2001 the European Commission adopted the Decision on the Indicative
Multiannual  Programme  for  the  funding  of  the  Trans-European  Transport  Network
over  the  2001-2006  period.  After  assessing  all  bids  received,  the  Commission
allocated indicatively  EUR 2 780 million  to the successful  projects.  Nearly  50%  of
this amount  will  go  to the large  infrastructure projects endorsed  by the 1994 Essen
European Council, 20% will go to the Galileo programme and the rest will be shared
between  various  railway  bottlenecks,  cross-border  projects  and  intelligent  transport
systems.  "The  selected  projects  will  contribute  to  meeting  our  key  transport  policy
challenges  as  outlined  in  the  Commission  White  Paper  on  Transport  adopted  on
12 September14:  shifting  the  balance  between  different  modes  of  transport,  fighting
bottlenecks  and  congestion  and  placing  quality  and  security  at  the  heart  of  the
common transport policy," said Vice-President Loyola de Palacio, Commissioner for
Energy and Transport.

In line with the objectives set out in the White Paper on transport policy, the selected
projects will aim to remove bottlenecks on the trans-European transport network and
shift the balance between the different modes of transport.

The  total  amount  proposed  for  the  2001–2006  programme,  EUR  2 780  million,  is
distributed as follows:

(cid:1)  over  EUR  1 300  million  (47%)  to  infrastructure  projects  endorsed  by  the  1994

Essen European Council;

(cid:1)  over EUR 550 million (20%) to the Galileo project;

(cid:1)  close to EUR 640 million (23%) to railway bottlenecks and cross-border projects;

(cid:1)  close to EUR 280 million (10%) to intelligent transport system (ITS) projects for

the road and air sectors.

Pursuing the White Paper’s objective to revitalise the railways, almost two thirds of
the programmed support has been allocated to the rail sector. While studies will play
an  important  role  in  the  costly  further  technical,  environmental  and  geological
preparation  of  major  projects,  such  as  the  rail  tunnels  for  the  Alpine  and  Pyrenees
crossings,  most  of  the  high-speed  passenger  rail  "Essen  projects"  will  experience
their construction peak and are expected to be ready by the end of 2006. In line with
the  White  Paper’s  aim  of  putting  new  technologies  at  the  service  of  the  Union’s
transport  system  and  transport  users,  the  Galileo  programme  has  also  been  given  a
prominent  role.  Finally,  consistent  with  the  objective  of  tackling  congestion  and
improving links with the periphery, significant support has been given to the removal
of bottlenecks and the  completion of missing  links  both  within the Union and  with
third countries.

14

http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy_transport/en/lb_en.html

36

                                                
Table  12:  TEN-T  Multiannual  Indicative  Programme  2001-06-  Framework
Decision

P/G Project Title

Proposed Support (EUR m)

- 

P1 HGV  North  -  South  (Berlin  -
-

Halle/Leipzig 
Erfurt 
Nuremberg Munich - Verona
Paris 
-
Brussels 
Cologne/Frankfurt  -  Amsterdam  -
London high-speed railway line

P2

- 

P3 High-speed  train  South  (Madrid-
Barcelona-Perpignan-Montpellier
and Madrid-Vitoria -Dax)

2001

33

2002

46.5

2003

61.5

2004-06 Total

117

258

9.28%

61

49.5

36

145

291.5

10.48
%

15.1

22.1

34.7

66

137.9

4.96%

Betuwe line

P4 High-speed train East
P5
P6 High-speed train France - Italy
P7 Greek motorways - Pathe and Via

45
20
11
12.5

36.5
10
16.5
12

52
12
54
5.5

Egnatia

P8 Multimodal link Portugal - Spain -

3.3

3.2

4.35

P9

Rest of Europe
Cork-Dublin-Belfast-Larne-
Stranraer CRL

P10 Malpensa Airport
P11 Øresund Fixed Link
P12 Nordic 
Corridor

Triangle  Multimodal

-

-
-
12.05

P13 Ireland  -  UK  -  Benelux  road

13

-

-
-
16

8

-

34.5
380
88.9
-

2

-

168
80
170.4
30

6.04%
2.88%
6.13%
1.08%

12.85

0.46%

-

0.00%

-
-
14.95

-
-
42.5

-
-
85.5

0.00%
0.00%
3.07%

7

2.8

30.8

1.11%

corridor

P14 West Coast main line

Subtotal PP

3

7
232.95 223.3

3
285

31
567.7

1.58%
44
1 308.95 47.07

P15 Trans-European 

Satellite

100

170

80

200

550

Navigation System (GALILEO)

G1/2 Removal  of  bottlenecks  on  the

51.125 67.825

75.25

196.9

391.1

TEN railway network
G3 Cross-border projects
G4

G5

Intelligent transport systems in the
road sector
Intelligent transport systems in the
air sector
Subtotal Groups

13.95
28.3

21.51
30.8

32.28
33

186.76
99.9

254.5
192

7.99

25.8

26.03

24.67

84.49

3.04%

101.365 145.935 166.56 508.23

922.09

33.16

%
19.78
%
14.06
%

9.15%
6.90%

Total MIP

434.315 539.235 531.56 1 275.93 2 781.04 100.00

%

Details in Annex IX

37

While between 1995 and 2000 DG TREN promoted the development of ITS on the
trans-European road network by contributing over EUR 125 million to the funding of
road traffic management projects, in 2001 this annual programme of TEN-T funding
was  replaced  by  the  European  Commission's  Multiannual  Indicative  Programme
(MIP).

Six  ITS  projects  covering  14  Member  States  (Greece  is  not  covered)  have  been
selected  and  will  receive  EUR  192  million  of  EU  support,  while  in  2001  the  12
related financial decisions amounted to a total of EUR 25.3 million.

–  ARTS (involving P/E/F): EUR 3.5 million

–  CENTRICO (involving NL/D/B/L/F/UK): EUR 7 million

–  CORVETTE (involving D/A/IT): EUR 4 million

–  SERTI (involving D/F/IT/E): EUR 3.5 million

–  STREETWISE (involving UK/IR): EUR 1.8 million

–  VIKING (involving FI/SW/DK/D): EUR 5.5 million

The  supported  projects  are  designed  to  reduce  congestion,  providing  seamless
information  to  travellers  on  the  TERN.  A  clear  focus  is  placed  on  accelerating  the
deployment  of  systems  and  services  for  the  traveller  and  on  tackling  cross-border
problems through co-operation between the different Member States in the projects.

4.2. 

TEN-T budget outside the MIP

53  transport  infrastructure  projects  and  studies  were  selected  to  be  co-financed
through  the  ordinary  annual  part  of  the  TEN-T  2001  budget  in  accordance  with
Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 laying down general rules for the  granting of
Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks.

These  decisions  –  for  a  total  amount  of  EUR  137.2 million15  –  were  intended  to
complement the funds allocated in 2001 in the context of the Multiannual Indicative
Programme  (MIP),  for  which  the  Commission  adopted  a  framework  Decision.
Actions to be co-financed were selected in line with the priorities set out in the White
Paper on Transport Policy adopted by the Commission on 12 September 2001. More
specifically,  the  decisions  referred  to  sectors  under-represented  in  the  MIP
framework  (e.g.  inland  waterways,  ports,  airports  and  roads)  and  to  projects  which
complemented  the  actions  supported  in  the  MIP  (e.g.  accessibility  to  the  main
network,  upgrading  of  nodes).  It  also  provided  additional  support  for  important
European projects such as ERTMS and EGNOS, already financed in previous years.
The TEN financial assistance Committee – Transport Sector, at its meeting on 7 June
2001, expressed a favourable opinion on this selection.

15

The  total  amount  of  co-financing  in  2001  outside  the  MIP  was  EUR  148  million.  EUR  11  million,
dedicated to projects selected in 2000, was not committed until 2001 owing to procedural delays.

38

                                                
4.3. 

The TEN Risk Capital Facility

The need for this instrument was highlighted by the work of the Kinnock High-level
Working Group on public/private partnerships in transport, whose conclusions were
fully  endorsed  by  the  Commission  in  a  Communication  in  September  1997.  The
availability  of  such  funds  in  Europe  is  at  present  very  limited  and  their  emergence
needs to be encouraged if TEN projects are to be developed as PPPs. The aim would
be to use limited amounts of public resources to help stimulate development of such
risk-capital  investments,  which  have  an  important  role  to  play  in  allowing  PPPs  to
tap  the  considerable  pool  of  long-term  private  investment  funds.  For  reasons  of
efficiency  and  cost-effectiveness,  it  is  best  to  use  investment  funds  or  comparable
financial undertakings with a focus on providing risk capital for TEN projects.

Due to the high leverage effect, the TEN Risk Capital Facility (RCF) will not only
provide  additional  means  for  a  sector  where  market  failures  are  perceived  to  exist,
but also support the development of innovative financial instruments in a sector that
is traditionally focused on grants. In contrast to interest-rate subsidies or other forms
of grants, contributions made under this Facility will also be recoverable.

The  TEN  Financial  Regulation16  provides  for  a  limited  share  of  the  available
Community budgetary resources for TEN to be used as “risk-capital participation for
investment  funds  or  comparable  financial  undertakings  with  a  priority  focus  on
providing risk capital for trans-European network projects and involving substantial
private sector investment; such risk-capital participation shall not exceed 1% of the
budgetary resources [...], this limit may be increased up to 2% as from 2003 in the
light of a review [...] of the functioning of this instrument.”17 Such resources are set
at  EUR  4 600  million  for  the  period  2000  to  2006.  Consequently,  the  potential
amount  available  for  the  RCF  up  to  2006  is  EUR  46  million,  with  a  possibility  of
extending it to EUR 92 million as from 2003 in the light of a review to be presented
by the Commission to the EP and the Council.

According  to  the  Regulation,  the  management  of  the  Community  risk-capital
contribution  is  to  be  ensured  by  the  European  Investment  Fund,  and  the  terms  for
implementation  of  the  scheme  are  to  be  laid  down  in  a  co-operation  agreement
between the Commission and the EIF. After the reform of the EIF in 2000 its TEN
activity was transferred to the EIB. A tri-partite co-operation agreement between the
Commission,  the  EIB  and  the  EIF  was  therefore  concluded  in  June  2001.  In  July
2001  the  Notice  of  implementation  of  the  Facility  was  published  in  the  Official
Journal18 to enable interested investment funds to submit applications to the EIB with
a  view  to  the  selection  of  investments  to  be  financed  through  this  instrument.  The
first financial decision to allocate funds from the TEN Budget to the Risk Capital is
expected to be taken in the year 200219.

16

17

18

19

Council Regulation No 2236/95 as amended by Regulation No 1655/1999 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 19 July 1999.
Article 4 (1)(e) of the Regulation.
Notice  of  implementation  of  the  TEN  Infrastructure  Risk  Capital  Scheme  under  Article  4(1)(e)  of
Regulation (EC) No 2236/95, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1655/1999 (2001/C 188/05).
The  first  financial  decision  to  allocate  TEN-T  budget  to  Risk  capital,  as  expected,  has  been  taken  in
2002

39

                                                
5.  EVALUATION

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

5.1. 

Energy

In 1999, independent  experts  carried  out  a  mid-term  evaluation  of  the  TEN  energy
programme for the Commission. Most of the recommendations made were taken into
account by the Commission Services in the implementation of the programme. The
next independent evaluation is planned to take place in the years 2003/2004.

5.2. 

Telecommunications

All  projects  were  reviewed  at  least  once  in  2001.  Particular  attention  was  paid  to
progress towards the production of business plans, as this had been identified as an
area  of  particular  weakness.  In  total,  seven  projects  were  found  to  be  insufficient
either  for  technical  reasons  or  because  there  was  held  to  be  no  prospect  of  viable
services resulting from them, and the decision was taken to terminate them.

Intermediate evaluation of TEN-Telecom action

The study the Commission had requested pursuant to the requirements of Article 14
of  the  Guidelines  Decision  was  completed  early  in  2001.  The  final  report  found
TEN-Telecom to be a relevant programme on track with potential to develop a niche
where it could make a difference. It was strategically well placed with a relevant task
of  bringing  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 was not considered to be a disadvantage but rather an
asset, as it allowed the programme to adapt quickly to a changing environment, with
particular reference to the emerging framework of eEurope.

The  study  showed  that  although  the  projects  selected  for  Community  aid  were
generally high risk, many showed good potential for exploitation after the end of the
phase funded by the programme.

However, the broad range of activities which the programme could support produced
a dilution of resources which reduced its overall impact. The Commission addressed
this shortcoming in its proposal  to  amend the  guidelines  in the  telecommunications
area  by  reducing  the  number  of  action  lines  in  the  programme  from  eighteen  to
seven.

The  study  also  revealed  weakness  in  the  production  of  business  plans.  The
Commission  recognised  this  problem,  and  two  initiatives  were  taken  to  address  it.
Direct  assistance  was  given  to  projects  through  the  BPS  support  project,  which
offered  advice  on  the  production  and  presentation  of  business  plans,  and  reviews
were  directed  towards  early  detection  of  potential  problems  in  this  area  so  that
remedial action could be taken.

5.3. 

Transport

According  to  Commission  Regulation  No  1687/2001,  art.  1,  all  multiannual
programmes shall be subject of ex ante, mid-term and ex post evaluations.

40

As  regards  the  TEN  exercise,  the  MIP  Framework  Decision  covers  the  period
2000-2006.

In  2001  the  MIP  financial  aid  was  just  at  the  beginning.  The  overall  results  of  the
intervention and the added value of the Community involvement will be appraised in
the  mid-term.  The  mid  term  evaluation  of  the  Programme  is  scheduled  for
2003/2004.

Nevertheless, the evaluations on some specific programmes (part of the TEN-T) have
been  carried  out  :  the  “TEN-T  Road  Traffic  Management  Projects”  ;  the  “Galileo”
Overall Architecture and the “Equity Plan Phase I”.

Furthermore, projects status reports are issued annually in relation to all projects that
are  co-financed  under  the  TEN  budget  lines.  These  reports  allow  for  a  systematic
monitoring of the progress achieved by the individual projects

Regarding ITS (road traffic management), in 2001, the Commission evaluated eight
projects with the help of external support. This model will be utilised in future for the
rest of transport projects. The results of the evaluations, based on a detailed analysis
of the final technical reports produced by the partners, were in general positive. The
deployment  of  ITS  systems  is  going  ahead  in  most  Member  States  according  to
national plans. In some cases, delays were noted, related to some activities that did
not represent the bulk of the  projects. As in other  areas,  activities  needing a  strong
coordination such as coordination of traffic management measures, cross-border data
exchange are implemented by the Member States, but at a rather slow pace.

6.  EXTERNAL RELATIONS

6.1. 

Energy

In terms  of network  development,  the  Commission  proposal  for  the  revision  of  the
TEN-E Guidelines will reinforce the external dimension of the EU's energy networks
policy, especially for  connections with the  candidate  countries  and  with  other  third
countries  in  the  Mediterranean  and  Black  Sea  regions,  and  with  an  emphasis  on
natural gas links.

In  2001,  the  EU–Russia  Energy  Dialogue  was  launched..  An  important  conclusion
was that specific "projects of common interest" would be identified, to link up to the
trans-European  energy  networks  to  guarantee  security  of  energy  supplies.  A
preliminary list of these projects was published in a report to the EU–Russia Summit.
Further work will concentrate on their implementation modalities, with a major focus
on conditions to attract significant private EU investment.

Regarding  the  Western  Balkans,  the  European  Commission  presented  its  final
strategy paper on “Transport and Energy infrastructures in South–East Europe” at the
Regional  Conference  for  South-East  Europe  in  Bucharest  on  25-26 October  2001.
Consultations  on  the  strategy  paper  had  been  held  during  spring  2001  with  EU
Member States (CARDS Committee), international financial institutions, the targeted
countries – the countries which are part of the Stabilisation and Association Process
(Albania,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Croatia,  Republic  of  Macedonia,  F.R.
Yugoslavia)  –  and  the  Stability  Pact  Working  Table  II  (May  2001).  The  paper
identifies the broad priorities for transport and energy infrastructure development in

41

the region, incorporating the various initiatives launched and work already completed
in this area over the last decade, and presents the criteria for further prioritisation of
corridors and specific projects in transport and energy.

Similarly, one of the specific regional cooperation objectives of the CARDS regional
strategy for 2002-2006, approved by the European Commission on 22 October 2001,
is  “to  re-integrate  the  SAP  countries  into  the  European  infrastructure  networks,
namely  for  transport,  border  management  and  energy”  by  assisting  them  “in
developing coherent strategies for infrastructure with an international dimension in
transport  and  energy”.  Expected  results  in  the  energy  sector  are  “regional
infrastructure  priority  study  and  discussion  process  for  energy  infrastructure,
including progress on the development of a regional internal electricity market and
its integration with that of the EU.”

The  concrete  results  of  these  co-ordinated  efforts  appear  in  a  South-East  Europe
Regional infrastructure project list. The progress of these projects is monitored on a
regular  basis  by  the  Infrastructure  Steering  Group.  The  current  list  of  ongoing
regional  projects  –  a  combination  of  the  “Quick-start  package”  (Regional  Funding
Conference,  March  2000)  and  of  a  list  of  additional/complementary  projects
presented at the October 2001 Regional Conference – includes 41 projects totalling
EUR 3.32 billion. The energy sector comes second, with a figure of EUR 0.82 billion
(25%) for five electricity projects.

6.2. 

Transport

Negotiations on the enlargement of the Union have been progressing well, and have
made  clear  the  significant  transport  needs  of  the  applicant  countries.  Around
20 000 km of roads and 30 000 km of railways, as well as seaports and airports, will
need  to  be  built  or  improved  at  a  cost  of  nearly  EUR  100  billion.  This  work  is
already  receiving  Community  assistance  through  the  ISPA  and  Phare  programmes,
but bringing the economies of the future  Member  States  into  line  with  those  of  the
present  EU  will  require  unprecedented  levels  of  investment.  Enlargement  will  also
bring increases in traffic in the current Member States, which therefore need to adjust
their own infrastructure priorities

Pan-European Corridors and Areas

The pan-European transport network has been developed in the course of three pan-
European  transport  conferences.  The  first  Pan-European  Transport  Conference  in
Prague  in  1991  set  out  an  appropriate  concept  for  transport  infrastructure,  which
became the corridor concept.

At the second Pan-European Transport Conference in Crete in 1994, the countries of
Western, Central and Eastern Europe identified nine long-distance transport corridors
as priorities for infrastructure development.

At  the  third  Pan-European  Transport  Conference  in  Helsinki  in  June  1997,  a  10th
corridor and the pan-European transport maritime basins were added.

These multimodal  corridors, the  so-called  Helsinki  corridors,  have  a  total  length  of
about  48 000 km,  of  which  25 000 km  is  rail  network  and  23 000 km  is  road
network.  Airports,  seaports,  river  ports  and  major  terminals  serve  as  intermodal

42

nodes  along  these  long  distance  links  between  the  Central  and  East  European
countries.

The  concept  of  a  Pan-European  Transport  Infrastructure  Investment  Partnership
promotes  the  establishment  of  all  the  necessary  components  for  a  future  pan-
European transport network on the territory of the European Union, in the candidate
countries for accession, the New Independent States (NIS) and beyond.

The pan-European transport network consists of the following components:
(cid:1)  the trans-European transport network20 on the territory of the European Union,
(cid:1)  the  TINA  network,21  which  comprises  the  ten  corridors  plus  additional  network

components in the candidate countries for accession,

(cid:1)  the  ten  pan-European  transport  corridors  situated  in  the  candidate  countries  for

accession, in the NIS and beyond,

(cid:1)  the four pan-European transport areas (PETrAs) covering maritime areas,
(cid:1)  the Euro-Asian Links, notably TRACECA (Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus

Asia).

See map in Annex X.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a coordination mechanism for
each  corridor  has  been  signed  for  all  corridors.  The  following  table  gives  some
details of the existing corridors.

Pan-European Corridors

Number Protocol  of

Presidency Route  as  defined  by  the  Helsinki  Pan-European

agreement

Conference in 1997

I

Yes

Sweden

Helsinki-Tallinn-Riga-Kaunas-Warsaw

II

III

IV

V

20

21

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Road component: Via Baltica

Rail component: Rail Baltica

Russia

Berlin-Warsaw-Minsk-Moscow-Nizhnij Novgorod

Poland

Berlin/Dresden-Wroclaw-Lviv-Kiev

Germany

Berlin/Nuremberg-Prague-Budapest
Constanza/Thessaloniki/Istanbul

Italy

Venice-Trieste/Koper-Ljubljana-Budapest-Uzgorod-
Lviv

Section A: Bratislava-Zilina-Kosice-Uzgorod

Section B: Rijeka-Zagreb-Budapest

Decision  1692/96/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23 July  1996  (OJ  L 228,
9.9.1996).
Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment – final report of October 1999.

43

                                                
VI

Yes

Poland

Gdansk-Grudziadz/Warsaw-Katowice-Zilina

Section C: Ploce-Sarajevo-Osijek-Budapest

VII

VIII

Yes

Yes

IX

Yes

Section A: Katowice-Ostrava-Corridor V

Austria

Danube and Danube-Black Sea canal

Italy

Durres-Tirana-Skopje-Sofia-Varna- Link with Greek
TEN and Corridor IV

Helsinki-St. Petersburg-Moscow/Pskov-Kiev-
Ljubasevka-Chisinau-Bucharest-Dimitrovgrad-
Alexandroupolis

Section A: Ljubasevka-Odessa

Section 
Klaipeda/Kaliningrad

B: 

Kiev-Minsk-Vilnius-Kaunas-

X

Yes

Greece

Salzburg 
Thessaloniki

Ljubljana-Zagreb-Belgrade-Nis-Skopje-

Section A: Graz-Maribor-Zagreb

Section B: Budapest-Novi Sad-Belgrade

Section C: Nis-Sofia

Section D: Veles-Bitola-Florina

Important investments along the corridors were made in 2001, but development and
progress  differed  greatly  depending  on  the  activity  of  the  corridor  chair  and  the
commitment of the participating countries.

One  dedicated  extension  of  the  trans-European  networks  is  the  TACIS-funded
TRACECA route ("Silk Route") through the Southern Caucasus to Central Asia. The
physical  links  need  to  be  improved  in  order  to  attract  significant  traffic  volume.
Coordination  work  on  pan-European  transport  corridors,  namely  the  extension  of
trans-European networks in the western NIS, continued with regular meetings of the
corridor chairs. However, no Community  funding for related projects was available
in 2001.

Regarding  the  Western  Balkans,  the  European  Commission  presented  its  final
strategy paper on “Transport and Energy infrastructures in South–East Europe” at the
Regional Conference for South-East Europe in Bucharest on 25-26 October 2001. It
was  extensively  discussed  with  the  Member  States  of  the  European  Union,  the
beneficiary  countries  and  the  European  Investment  Bank,  the  World  Bank  and  the
European  Bank  for  Reconstruction  and  Development.  It  was  presented  to  the
Members  of  the  Stability  Pact  in  Tirana  in  May  2001  and  in  Bucharest  in  October

44

2001. This working document is used as a guideline for investment strategy by major
donors and complemented by CARDS financing for further technical studies.

The  paper  identifies  the  broad  priorities  for  transport  and  energy  infrastructure
development  in  the  region,  incorporating  the  various  initiatives  launched  and  work
already  completed  in  this  area  over  the  last  decade,  and  presents  the  criteria  for
further  prioritisation  of  corridors  and  specific  projects  in  transport  and  energy.  As
regards  transport,  the  strategy  will  apply  to  the  Western  Balkans  a  methodology
comparable to that of TINA.

Similarly,  one  of  the  specific  regional  co-operation  objectives  of  the  CARDS
regional strategy for 2002-2006, approved by the EC on 22 October 2001, is “to re-
integrate  the  SAP  countries  into  the  European  infrastructure  networks,  namely  for
transport, border management and energy” by assisting them “in developing coherent
strategies for infrastructure with an international dimension in transport and energy”.
Expected  results  in  the  transport  sector  are  “regional  infrastructure  priority  study,
discussion process for the extension of Pan European Networks system into the SAP
region,  using  the  same  approach  as  seen  under  the  Transport  Infrastructure  Needs
Assessment (TINA) process in central Europe.”

Support focuses on producing strategies and preparatory studies, as well as catalytic
investments  with  a  view  to  reconnecting  the  region’s  transport,  energy  and
environmental  infrastructure  into  the  pan-European  networks.  Under  the  CARDS
Regional  Programme  2001,  a  EUR  6m  Regional  Infrastructure  Study  Programme
was  approved  that  aims  to  further  develop  the  EC  regional  strategy.  It  includes  a
EUR 2.45m regional study for the transport sector that will follow up the Transport
Infrastructure  Regional  Study.  TIRS  is  a  12-month  study,  started  in  March  2001,
funded  by  AFD,  and  co-steered  by  the  ECMT,  the  EIB  and  the  EC.  In  addition,  a
Project Preparation Facility (EUR 3m) was also approved under CARDS to prepare
investments in the transport sector, in line with the strategy and regional studies.

The  EC  strategy  paper  also  constitutes  a  basic  blueprint  for  the  work  of  the
Infrastructure Steering  Group  for South-East Europe  (ISG), created in 2001,  whose
members  are  the  European  Commission,  the  EIB,  the  EBRD,  the  World  Bank,  the
Council of Europe Development Bank and the Office of the Special Co-ordinator of
the Stability Pact.

The  concrete  results  of  these  co-ordinated  efforts  appear  in  a  South-East  Europe
Regional infrastructure project list. The progress of these projects is monitored on a
regular  basis  by  the  ISG.  The  current  list  of  ongoing  regional  projects  –  a
combination  of  the  “Quick-start  package”  (Regional  Funding  Conference,  March
2000)  and  of  a  list  of  additional/complementary  projects  presented  at  the  October
2001  Regional  Conference  –  includes  41  projects  totalling  EUR  3.32  billion.
Transport  (particularly  road  infrastructure)  represents  66%  of  the  overall  cost,
equivalent to some EUR 2.2 billion, spread between 33 different projects.

45

7.  OTHER UNION POLICIES WITH A TEN DIMENSION

7.1. 

Environment

The approach adopted in the financing of TEN projects for the year 2001 was based
on  the  premise  that  sufficient  information  should  be  made  available  to  ensure  that
such  projects  were  in  line  with  Community  environment  legislation.  As  a  result,
insofar as TEN-T projects are concerned, the standard application form was amended
in December 1999 to include a specific declaration by the authority responsible for
monitoring  Natura  2000  sites,  within  the  Annex  on  conformity  with  environmental
legislation.  This  amendment  was  designed  to  facilitate  internal  procedures  within
Member  States,  thus  ensuring  the  conformity  of  TEN-T  projects  with  Natura  2000
and  in  particular  with  the  site  protection  requirements  of  Article 6  of  the  Habitats
Directive.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

Legal  Provisions  on  strategic  environmental  assessment  were  established  in  the
Community by Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on
the  environment.  The  Member  States  of  the  European  Union  are  required  to
transpose this Directive into national law by July 2004. They have to trace, examine
and  assess  the  environmental  impact  of  infrastructure  plans  and  programmes.  The
Directive  applies  to  transport  plans  and  programmes,  including  those  related  to  the
trans-European network.

The  Commission’s  proposal  of  October  2001  on  amending  the  Community
guidelines  for  the  development  of  the  TEN-T  network  (COM(2001)  544  final  of
02.10.01)  was  that  if  new  routes  on  other  modal  infrastructure  developments  are
proposed for inclusion in this Decision, an environmental evaluation, in line with the
principles of SEA , shall be initiated by the Committee established under Art. 18.2.

7.2. 

Research and Development

Under  the  fourth  Framework  Programme  of  the  European  Community  for  research
and  technological  development  and  demonstration  (1994-1998),  several  specific
programmes included activities contributing to the development and implementation
of  TEN-T  policies.  Those  projects  addressed  such  issues  as  support  for  decision-
making for infrastructure projects, methodologies to build up transport observatories,
and  assessment  of  the  socio-economic  and  environmental  dimensions  of  the  TEN
policies.  Furthermore,  many  pilot  projects  have  been  used  to  apply  the  results  and
recommendations of the research projects. Most of these projects have already been
completed and the executive summaries and results can be found either on the extra
website  http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/extra/home.html  or  on 
the  project
websites, which are linked to the extra one.

The following are key examples of project contributions:

The  SCENES  project  developed  a  transport  forecasting  model,  network-based  and
with a detailed description of the TEN-T. It covers all 15 EU Member States and also
includes  Accession  Countries.  The  SCENES  model  has  been  extended  to  link  it  to
national transport models and forecasts (EXPEDITE and THINK-UP projects in the

46

fifth Framework Programme) and to allow assessment of macro-economic impacts –
GDP, employment – of  the  TENs  and  other  transport  policies  (TIPMAC  project  in
the fifth Framework Programme).

To test the feasibility of establishing a transport information system to support policy
making  it  was  decided  to  launch  under  the  4th  FP  a  practical  trial  application,  the
“Pilot  for  an  Alpine  Transport  Information  System  (ATIS)".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.

These results have also 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 appeared in the White Paper.

Under  the  fifth  Framework  Programme  for  Research,  Technological  Development
and Demonstration (1998-2002) many projects contributing to the development and
implementation  of  TEN-T  policies  had  been  already  initiated  in  several  key
actions and programmes: key  action 2 ‘Sustainable  mobility  and  intermodality’  and
key  action  3  ‘Land  transport  and  marine  technologies’  in  the  Competitive  and
Sustainable  Growth  programme,  key  action  5  ‘Cleaner  energy  systems,  including
renewable  and  key  action  6  ‘Economic  and  efficient  energy  for  a  competitive
Europe’  in  the  Energy,  Environment  and  Sustainable  Development  programme  as
well  as  in  the  Information  Society  Technologies  programme.  Other  projects  were
launched during 2001 and will start to provide useful results in the near future.

In  the  domain  of  socio-economic  research,  the  key  objectives  of  transport  research
projects are 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),
and  the  establishment  of  discussion  forums  to  address  topics  relevant  to  TEN-T
policies  and  projects  (ALP-NET,  THINK-UP,  EXPEDITE,  TIPMAC  and  IASON
projects). Without being exhaustive, it is also important to mention the contribution
to  satellite  navigation  –  definition  phase  of  Galileo  (GALA,  INTEG,  SAGA,
GEMINUS and GALILEI projects) – and to the development of the Single European
Sky (ONESKY and GATE TO GATE projects).

7.3. 

Competition

It is in the interest of consumers and of the Community as a whole that TEN projects
be selected and managed in a way that fully takes into account the potential benefits

47

of  competition.  In  this  regard,  proper  access  to  TEN  must  be  guaranteed  in
accordance with the applicable rules in the relevant sector.

As  far  as  transport  is  concerned,  the  Commission  reaffirmed  in  its  White  Paper  of
200122 its commitment to a properly regulated, open, competitive market for railway
services as an essential precondition for delivering the wider objective of sustainable
development.  In  support  of  that  commitment  the  Commission  stated  that  “when
selecting infrastructure projects to receive Community support, the Commission will
consider the extent to which the line has been opened to competition.”

In  line  with  stated  Commission  policy  on  railway  restructuring  and  reform,  that
means, as a minimum, controlled competition for passenger services and open access
for  freight  services.  When  considering  funding  for  the  removal  of  bottlenecks  the
Commission  will  also  have  regard  to  the  benefits  of  structural  separation  in
contributing  to  more  efficient  infrastructure  capacity  allocation.  Benchmarking  in
this way will help to ensure that funding is no more than is necessary to enable the
project to proceed.

As  far  as  energy  is  concerned,  the  creation  of  a  functioning  Third  Party  Access
regime – also for TEN – is one of the key priorities of European competition policy
in the energy sector. Without access to electricity and/or gas interconnectors linking
two Member States, energy consumers cannot switch suppliers and thus benefit from
the liberalisation policy of the Community. Whilst the  TEN  programme focuses on
the creation of new infrastructure, competition policy ensures that existing capacities
are allocated in a fair manner and at non-discriminatory prices.

In  the  telecommunications  sector,  ensuring  competition  as  regards  the  provision  of
high  speed  Internet  access  is  a  major  concern  for  the  Commission.  Since  the
liberalisation  of  the  sector,  incumbent  operators  in  the  majority  of  Member  States
have acquired an overwhelming market share in this new market.  In  order  to  avoid
that TEN-policies would strengthen the market power of the incumbents in this area,
it  is  appropriate  to  focus  the  TEN-interventions  on  services  normally  provided  by
public authorities and on interconnection and interoperability of networks.

22

European Transport Policy for 2010: time to decide COM(2001) 370 final, 12.9.2001.

48