Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Decision N° 1692/96/EC on Community guidelines for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network
Date: 2004-04-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common transport policy, economic and social cohesion, environmental protection, trans-European network, transport network

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.4.2004 
COM(2004) 294 final 

2001/0229 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a 
Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending 
Decision N° 1692/96/EC on Community guidelines for the development of the 
Trans-European Transport Network 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
2001/0229 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a 
Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending 
Decision N° 1692/96/EC on Community guidelines for the development of the 
Trans-European Transport Network 

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BACKGROUND 

Proposal 2001 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2001) 544 final – 2001/0229 (COD)): 

9 October 2001 

Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee: 

21 March 2002 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

30 May 2002 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 
(document COM(2002) 542 final – 2001/0229 (COD)): 

Date of adoption of the common position: 

Proposal 2003 

26 September 2002 

16 April 2004 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the EP and the Council 
(document COM(2003) 564 final – 2001/0229 (COD)): 

16 October 2003 

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 

11 March 2004 

Date of adoption of the common position: 

14 April 2004 

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OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The objective of the 2001 proposal is to revise the guidelines on the development of the trans-
European  network  (Decision  1692/96/EC)  in  accordance  with  the  White  Paper  on  the 
European  transport  policy  and  several  Council  conclusions.  The  overall  aim  is  to  alleviate 
bottlenecks by putting more emphasis on investments in railways, inland waterways, short sea 
shipping,  intermodal  operations  and  effective  interconnection.  Due  to  the  delays  in 
completing  the  network,  the  amendments  introduce  accordingly  more  concentration  on  a 
smaller number of thematic priorities (article 5) and specific projects (Annexe III updating the 
list  adopted  by  the  European  Council  of  Essen  in  1994),  including  Galileo  and  a  new  rail 
crossing in the Pyrenees.  

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The 2001 proposal was approved by the European Parliament in its first reading with  some 
modifications whereas it did not make progress in the Council. To unblock the situation in the 
Council,  the  Commission  decided  to  bring  forward  the  more  comprehensive  amendment  of 
the  Guidelines  foreseen  for  2004  and  set  up  a  High  Level  Group  (HLG)  chaired  by  former 
Commissioner  Mr.  Van  Miert  and  comprising  representatives  from  the  current  and  future 
Member  States  and  the  European  Investment  Bank.  Based  on  the  recommendations  of  the 
HLG,  the  Commission  presented  a  new  complementary  proposal1  on  1  October  2003.  The 
main elements of this complementary proposal are: 

A  limited  number  of  new  priority  projects.  The  proposal  puts  forward  a  list  of  29  priority 
axes  –  to  be  declared  of  European  Interest  -  integrating  the  networks  of  the  future  Member 
States to make enlargement a success and provide the Union with a new opportunity to reduce 
congestion and encourage intermodality.  

Concentration of aid from the Community. The fact amongst others that the priority projects 
will be declared to be of European interest will have the consequence to focus on them the aid 
for the trans-European networks, from the Cohesion Fund and the Structural Funds.  

A  new  mechanism  for  supporting  motorways  of  the  sea  is  proposed  to  encourage  joint 
initiatives  by  the  Member  States  to  launch  new  regular  transnational  cargo  shipping  lines. 
This mechanism will enable Member States, with Community assistance, to support packages 
involving infrastructure, logistic systems and start-up aid. It will give motorways of the sea, 
which improve links with island and peripheral countries isolated by natural barriers the same 
importance as motorways and railways in the trans-European network. 

Closer  international  cooperation.  To  encourage  better  synchronisation  of  investments,  the 
Commission proposes designating a European coordinator for projects or groups of projects 
located on the same European axis. The coordinator, acting in the name and on behalf of the 
Commission,  will  also  give  advice  on  the  financial  package  for  the  projects.  To  solve  the 
difficulties  caused  by  Member  States'  separate  national  evaluation  procedures, 
the 
Commission has proposed to Member States coordinated evaluation and public consultation 
procedures  prior  to  the  authorisation  of  projects.  For  certain  cross-border  sections,  such  as 
bridges  or  tunnels,  the  Member  States  could,  for  example,  conduct  a  joint  transnational 
enquiry. 

The proposal goes hand in hand with a parallel proposal to amend the rules on financial aid 
for the TEN-T in order to allow a higher rate of co-funding for the cross-border sections of the 
priority projects. 

1 COM(2003) 564 final. 

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3- 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

The  Common  Position  takes  up  several  modifications  aiming  at  addressing  most  of  the 
amendments adopted by the European Parliament in its first and second first readings of the 
proposals. 

Regarding the 2001 proposal, amendments no 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 14, 16, 19, 21 (partly), 
22, 24, 25, 26 (partly), 27, 28, 30 and 46 (in principle), 48 and 51 are included fully or with 
some modifications in the Common Position.  

As  to  the  complementary  proposal  of  2003,  amendments  no  1,  3,  6,  9,  16,  20  and  25  are 
included  fully  or  with  minor  clarifying  modifications  while  only  parts  of  amendments 
no 33/rev  and  42,  34  and  43,  7,  8,  10,  11,  13,  19,  22  and  26  are  accepted  in  the  Common 
Position. Amendments no 2, 4, 5, 37 and 44, 38, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 39/rev and 45, 21, 23 and 
24 are not accepted. 

The  Common  Position  differs  from  the  European  Parliament’s  voted  amendments  in  the 
following main areas: 

Definition of the network (Art. 1) – several amendments of the Parliament propose to amend 
the general description of the network in more detail by adding policy objectives to be met, 
intersections between corridors and logistical platforms. These amendments are not accepted, 
as they go beyond the aims of the article. However, some of the Parliament’s proposals are 
included  under  Art.  5,  which  defines  priorities  for  the  network  by  adding  references  to 
intermodality,  access  to  peripheral  regions,  long-distance  shipping  and  to  sustainable 
mobility. 

Environmental  assessment  (Art.  8)  –  amendments  of  the  Parliament  to  the  2001  proposal 
request the Commission to carry out a strategic environmental assessment in anticipation of 
the adoption of legislation in the field (Directive 2001/42/EC), to carry out such assessments 
in  10  Accession  countries  or  to  strategically  assess  corridors.  These  amendments  are  not 
included in the Common Position, because they seem redundant given that the Directive will 
be transposed in July 2004 and the 10 countries becoming Member States in May 2004. The 
Commission also prepared an extended impact assessment, including environmental impacts 
of  the  2003  proposal  (SEC(2003)  1060).  However,  several  amendments  on  environmental 
assessment  have  been  included  and  the  role  of  environmental  assessment  has  been 
considerably  strengthened  in  the  following  areas:  First,  the  results  of  environmental 
assessment  pursuant  the  Directive  2001/42/EC  shall  be  taken  into  account  when  Member 
States prepare plans and programmes and when the Guidelines will be revised. Second, these 
results  shall  also  be  taken  into  account  by  the  Commission  when  reporting  on  the 
implementation of projects and in particular when making legislative proposals to revise the 
Guidelines.  Third,  the  Directive  79/409/EEC  on  the  conservation  of  wild  birds  has  been 
included. 

Motorways  of  the  Sea  (Art.  12a)  –  Several  parts  of  amendment  7  are  included:  regions  of 
States are mentioned in addition to States as part of the concept, waterways or canals linking 
two  motorways  of  the  sea  areas  are  part  of  the  definition  as  well  as  projects  with  wider 
benefits such as icebreaking. Reference to Marco Polo criteria is included in recital 16. Other 
elements of amendment 7 were not included. It is felt that references to Treaty articles 87 and 
88  and  the  limitation  of  the  start-up  aid  to  ‘duly  motivated  capital  costs’,  modifying  the 
Commission’s initial proposal, ensure fair competition between ports and operators. 

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Reporting  (Art.  18  para  3)  –  The  Common  Position  takes  on  board  the  first  part  of 
amendment 28 in that the implementation report will be produced every two years. However, 
the second part of the amendment specifying requirements for the content of the report is not 
accepted, as it is considered unnecessary to establish such detailed requirements. On the other 
hand, the financial information is already included in other reports the Commission presents 
regularly. 

Declaration of European Interest (Art. 19a) – The Commission cannot accept to consult the 
European Parliament prior to proposing measures in case of serious delays in the completion 
of  the  priority  projects,  as  this  would  not  be  in  accordance  with  the  Commission’s  right  of 
initiative.  However,  the  Parliament  will  be  informed  about  such  measures.  Review  of  the 
projects  every  15  years  in  view  of  possible  delisting,  while  not  accepted  in  the  revised 
proposal of 2002, has now been taken on board in the Common Position. 

Annex III on priority projects – Several amendments to priority projects in Annex III of the 
Parliament are accepted: clarification of alignment at Divaca and Ronchi south in project 6; 
explicit mention of Algeciras-Bobadilla freight line as part of project 16; explicit mention of 
the North/Baltic Sea canal; inclusion of Prague-Linz as a branch of project 22. The inland 
waterway project Seine-Scheldt is also accepted as a new project no 30, as it supported both 
by the Common Position and the Parliament. Other amendments are not accepted, as these are 
either  not  supported  by  the  Member  States  concerned  (cf.  Art.  156  of  the  Treaty)  or  are 
mainly outside the territory of EU27 (amendments 19 (part), 21, 23, 24, 25 (part)). 

4- 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission considers that the common position adopted unanimously by the Council on 
14 April  2004  is  faithful  to  the  aims  and  spirit  of  the  Commission's  proposal.  The 
Commission can therefore approve the common position. 

The common position includes, either in letter or spirit, many of the amendments adopted by 
the  European  Parliament  in  the  first  two  readings.  There  is  consequently  a  high  level  of 
agreement  between  the  Council,  Parliament  and  the  Commission  on  the  key  aspects  of  the 
proposal. 

Accordingly, the Commission commends the common position to the European Parliament. 

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