WRITTEN QUESTION E-3628/03 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. High-speed rail link between Galicia and Portugal as part of the European growth initiative.
Date: 2003-12-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU growth strategy, Galicia, Portugal, cross-border cooperation, high-speed transport, project management, rail transport, trans-European network

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/73

From the information provided it is not clear if applications for development consent for the described
projects have been made. In any case, the Spanish authorities will have to comply with the above-
mentioned provisions of the EIA Directive.

On the basis of the information provided by the Honourable Member, the Commission has no reason to
assume that Union legislation is not being correctly applied. If the Honourable Member wants to provide
additional information concerning the future development of this plan, the Commission will examine the
issue further.

(1) Directive 2001/42/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of

certain plans and programmes on the environment, OJ L 197, 21.7.2001.

(2) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997.

(2004/C 84 E/0078)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3628/03

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

(5 December 2003)

Subject: High-speed rail link between Galicia and Portugal as part of the European growth initiative

The ‘quick start’ priority projects section of the European growth initiative includes high-speed rail links
between Galicia and Portugal, namely the Vigo-Oporto part-project (for which no starting date is given,
although it is due to be completed in 2010) and the La Coruña-Lisbon-Sines line (for which neither a
starting date nor a date of completion is indicated).

What are the actual prospects for the above projects? What are the starting and completion dates for the
Sines-Lisbon-Oporto and Oporto-Vigo part-projects and for the Sines-La Coruña project as a whole? What
effect has the agreement on the projects which was reached at the Luso-Spanish government summit held
on 8/9 November 2003 had on the prospects for completion of the projects?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 2004)

The Commission’s report of 11 November 2003 to the Council on the Commission President’s growth
initiative includes a quick start programme. As regards transport, this programme contains the cross-
border sections of the priority projects the Commission proposed on 1 October 2003 as part of the
revision of the Decision on Community guidelines for the trans-European network.

The projects in the quick start programme meet the following four criteria:

1.

2.

3.

4.

they are ready to start immediately (cid:1) the aim being for substantial investment to be committed by the
end of 2006,

they have a major cross-border impact,

they will have beneficial results in terms of growth and jobs, and

they will help protect the environment. The quick start programme is a tool and will in no way affect
the Commission’s proposal of 1 October 2003 on the Community guidelines for TENs, which will be
adopted through co-decision.

The Vigo-Oporto project forms part of priority project No 19 ‘High-speed rail interoperability on the
Iberian peninsula’ and is therefore included in the programme. The agreement reached at the recent
summit between the Portuguese and Spanish governments on 8/9 November 2003 specifies that work on
it will be completed in 2009, which is earlier than the forecast previously sent to the Commission (2010).

C 84 E/74

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

3.4.2004

Regarding the Sines-Lisbon-Oporto line, the Commission would point out that only the Lisbon/Oporto-
Madrid connection is included in the programme, as part of priority project No 3 ‘High-speed railway lines
of south-west Europe’.

The agreement reached at the recent summit between the Portuguese and Spanish governments on 8/
9 November 2003 served to establish the route of the Lisbon/Oporto-Madrid link, and this constituted an
important step in the construction of the trans-European transport network. The agreement was also a
precondition for including the link in the quick start programme. Under the Spanish-Portuguese
agreement,
the Lisbon-Madrid connection will be completed by 2010, and the Aveiro-Salamanca
connection by 2015.

Furthermore, in addition to the projects included in the growth initiative, the Commission has already
been able to ensure the Honourable Member on several occasions that all the projects concerning Galicia
are covered by the Community guidelines it proposed on 1 October 2003, which are currently being
examined by Parliament and the Council.

(2004/C 84 E/0079)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3629/03

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

(5 December 2003)

Subject: High-speed rail link between Galicia, other parts of Spain and the French border

The section of the European growth initiative which is concerned with priority ‘quick start’ high-speed
railway projects does not include the projects for rail links between Galicia, the rest of Spain and the
French border, despite repeated assurances from the Spanish and Galician Governments that they will be
completed in 2010.

Why are the above links absent from the list of priority ‘quick start’ high-speed railway projects? What
forecasts concerning the links have been supplied by the Spanish Government to the European Union?
What Community funding is to be made available by the Commission, and when?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(3 February 2004)

The Commission’s report to the Council of 11 November 2003 on the growth initiative does indeed
include a quick start programme. As regards transport, this programme contains the cross-border sections
of the priority projects the Commission proposed on 1 October 2003 as part of the revision of the
Decision on Community guidelines for the trans-European network (TEN).

The projects in the quick start programme meet the following four criteria:

1.

2.

3.

4.

they are ready to start immediately (cid:1) the aim being for substantial investment to be committed by the
end of 2006,

they have a major cross-border impact,

they will have beneficial results in terms of growth and jobs. and

they will help protect the environment. The quick start programme is a tool and will in no way affect
the Commission’s proposal of 1 October 2003 on the Community guidelines for TENs, which will be
adopted through co-decision.

The programme includes the ‘North-Northwest Corridor, including Vigo-Oporto’, which is one section of
priority project No 19 ‘High-speed rail interoperability on the Iberian peninsula’ proposed on 1 October
2003. The ‘North-Northwest Corridor’ includes rail links between Galicia and the rest of Spain, linking up
with the Madrid-Vitoria-Dax project. The data set out in the programme are those received from the
Member States.