WRITTEN QUESTION E-3629/03 by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. High-speed rail link between Galicia, other parts of Spain and the French border.
Date: 2003-12-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU financing, EU growth strategy, France, Galicia, Spain, cross-border cooperation, high-speed transport, rail transport, trans-European network

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.

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 84 E/75

With regard to links between Spain and France, the Commission can inform the Honourable Member that
the Figueras-Perpignan section, which forms part of priority project No 3 ‘High-speed railway lines of
south-west Europe’, is also included in the quick start programme.

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 TEN 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.

Community financing will be guided by current budgetary regulations and allocations. Accordingly, the
Commission’s proposals of 1 October 2003 included a proposal to amend the trans-European transport
network (TEN-T) Financial Regulation by raising the maximum rate of contributions from the TEN budget
from 10 % to 30 % of the cost of work on cross-border projects. The Council of Finance Ministers on
25 November 2003 reached political agreement on increasing it
the same time
broadening the scope of the maximum 20 % contribution to include projects crossing natural barriers.
These provisions will be applicable as soon as they are finally adopted.

to 20 %, while at

In addition, the European growth initiative is being supported by innovative financing methods. For
instance, the Commission is preparing a new guarantee mechanism to cover the specific commercial risks
of TEN projects in their post-construction phase.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), too, is playing an active role in the growth initiative through its TEN
investment mechanism. Furthermore, it has now taken the necessary decisions for reinforcing its structured
financing mechanism, through which it finances project risks which would otherwise not be covered by its
conventional loan instruments. The EIB is also increasing the risk capital assistance it provides, and is
proposing new and innovative instruments such as ‘securitisation structures’.

(2004/C 84 E/0080)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3643/03

by Salvador Jové Peres (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 December 2003)

Subject: Reform of the common organisation of the market in olive oil

In 1998 the Council set national guaranteed quantities for olive oil, using figures which the Commission
itself acknowledged as being questionable and on which the Court of Auditors also cast doubt in its special
report 2/98. One of the objectives of the 1998 reform of the COM was to obtain reliable information on
the true production situation. Exceeding the national guaranteed quantities entailed penalties which
determined the amount of aid received during the period from 2000 to 2002. In its current proposal, the
Commission suggests using this period as a basis for calculating future aid.

Does the Commission not consider that using information which it has acknowledged as unreliable will
create distortion in future aid distribution? What efforts has the Commission made to verify the
information used to determine the guaranteed national quantities in 1998? What was the outcome?

At the IOOC meeting in November 1996, slight changes were introduced consisting in the case of Greece
of average reductions in production of 8 % and in surface areas of 63 %, in the case of Italy a reduction in
surface areas of 54 % and an increase in production of 3 % and in the case of Spain, a slight reduction in
production. This would suggest that olive oil production in Italy and Greece is higher than had been
recorded. How does the Commission explain the adjustments made at the IOOC meeting in November
1996? Could there be other more likely explanations based on the unreliability of the figures used to
determine the guaranteed national quantities?