Communication from the Commission - Annual Report by the six European coordinators on the progress of certain trans-European transport network projects
Date: 2006-09-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financial instrument, activity report, aid system, financial aid, intra-EU transport, trans-European network, transport infrastructure

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 13.9.2006 
COM(2006) 490 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

Annual report by the six European coordinators on the progress of certain trans-
European transport network projects 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In  view  of  their  transnational  nature,  the  major  trans-European  transport  projects  require 
considerable  funding,  as  well  as  sustained  coordination  between  the  Member  States  which 
they cross. 

To enable such coordination to take place and to overcome the difficulties caused by the way 
in which investment procedures and decisions are compartmentalised within Member States, 
the Decision of 29 April 2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on guidelines 
for the development of the trans-European transport network1 introduces a new mechanism. 
This mechanism enables the Commission to designate European coordinators to facilitate the 
implementation of certain projects in a coordinated manner between Member States. 

On 20 July 2005, after consultation with the European Parliament and with the agreement of 
the Member States concerned, the Commission appointed six European coordinators2: Loyola 
de Palacio, Karel Van Miert, Étienne Davignon, Péter Balázs, Pavel Telicka and Karel Vinck. 

The Commission Decision drew up a precise mandate for action by the coordinators and for 
the  principal  tasks  entrusted  to  them  (cf.  Annex).  It  was  envisaged,  within  this  framework, 
that  the  coordinators  would  draw  up  each  year  "a  report  on  the  progress  made  in 
implementing the projects", for transmission by the Commission to the European Parliament 
and to the Member States concerned. In addition to this aspect, their mission statement also 
stipulated  that  they  should  give  the  Commission  "their  assistance  in  the  programming  of 
Community financial aid for the period 2007-2013". 

This Communication brings together the comments, analyses and recommendations made by 
the  coordinators  (referred  to  below  as  the  “report”)  in  their  annual  activity  reports  for  the 
projects for which they are responsible. 

1. 

A FIRST MAJOR INTERIM REPORT 

The coordinators carried out their activities between July 2005 and June 2006 in a period in 
which there was a degree of uncertainty about the financial support that might be provided by 
the Community for these major projects after 2006 given that the interinstitutional agreement 
on the EU’s financial framework was not finally sealed until 17 May 2006. 

It emerges from the analysis carried out by the coordinators that these projects/corridors are 
to a large extent dependent on support from the Community since certain sections are 
above all of Community interest. In particular for the cross-border sections, the Community 
contribution is decisive in view of the difficulty for the Member States concerned of bearing 
the financial costs on their own during a period of budgetary restrictions. The report stresses, 
moreover, that certain projects straddling two, or even three financial perspectives also have 
to contend with uncertainty regarding a possible Community contribution beyond 2013. 

Independently  of  the  financial  aspects,  the  coordinators'  activities  in  particular  made  it 
possible to highlight the importance of strengthened coordination between Member States to 

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Decision No 884/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 (OJ L 167, 
30.4.2004, p. 1). 
Commission Decision C(2005) 2754 of 20 July 2005. 

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ensure effective implementation of the projects. The possibility of approaching a project or a 
corridor  in  an  overall  manner  thus  helped  create  an  awareness,  among  the  authorities 
concerned,  of  the  need  to  set  up  common  planning  or  management  structures.  Some 
already  existed,  while  others  have  been  set  up  or  will  soon  be  established  following  the 
coordinators'  recommendations,  which  in  itself  represents  considerable  progress  for  these 
corridors. If the maturity of a project has not yet been established, the option chosen has been 
to carry out common feasibility studies so that a decision on the launching of operations can 
be taken by 2010 at the latest. 

The activity of the coordinators has made it possible to acquire a better understanding 
of  the  projects,  to  make  the  competent  authorities  aware  of  the  need  to  strengthen 
cooperation  with  their  counterparts  in  other  Member  States,  and  to  consider,  over  the 
medium-to-long term, the development not only of the infrastructure but also of the services 
to be provided on these corridors. The need to guarantee the interoperability of the networks 
as  well  as  the  harmonisation  of  the  administrative  procedures  is  crucial  in  this  connection. 
This is indicative of the fact that completing these large corridors is not an end in itself but 
that they represent an essential component of a trans-European transport network. The lack 
of  a  key  link  may  have  detrimental  consequences  for  the  proper  functioning  of  the  trans-
European  transport  network  as  a  whole  and  reduce  the  efficiency  of  the  national  networks. 
They therefore need to be underpinned by a coherent transport policy. Moreover, failure to 
complete  the  trans-European  transport  networks  as  a  whole  would  have  a  cost  for  the 
European economy in terms of loss of economic competitiveness. 

The  coordinators'  comments  are,  in  this  context,  very  important  because  they  point  out  the 
need to develop an integrated network policy. This should not simply be a "major works" 
approach with short-term objectives but should also represent a key element of a sustainable 
transport policy, with longer-term objectives. 

2. 

FIRST ENCOURAGING RESULTS  

It  should  be  stressed  that,  for  all  the  corridors  concerned,  the  presence  of  a  European 
coordinator  has  therefore  had  a  positive  impact  on  strengthening  the  dialogue  between  the 
various  interested  parties.  The  coordinators  as  a  whole  underlined  the  importance  of  this 
aspect and were able to establish appropriate contacts within the authorities concerned. 

Within  this  framework,  each  coordinator  endeavoured  to  have  the  most  objective  possible 
view  of  the  state  of  progress  of  the  corridor,  the  difficulties  on  some  sections  and  the 
Community  financial  support  they  consider  necessary.  The  reports  annexed  to  this 
Communication  illustrate  the  actions  undertaken  over  the  last  year  and  the  questions  which 
are still outstanding. These will be given particular attention by the coordinators over the next 
few months. 

The knowledge that the Commission now has of these large corridors taken as a whole is thus 
much  more  precise  than  before,  when  each  project  was  dealt  with  separately  and  there  was 
only  a  partial  view  of  the  issues  and  the  difficulties  relating  to  the  projects.  This  approach 
makes it possible in particular to evaluate more effectively the "trans-European" value added 
by  a  corridor,  whereas  before,  at  best,  all  that  could  be  done  was  to  add  up  the  "national" 
value added by each section. It emerges indirectly from these reports that non-completion or 
only  partial  completion  of  these  major  routes  would  be  a  major  setback  both  for  the  trans-
European networks and for the Community as a whole which would thus be deprived of an 

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essential factor in the proper functioning of the internal market with, as a direct consequence, 
a loss of competitiveness for its economy. 

3. 

MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS 

In order to help the Commission to establish criteria to set the level of Community funding for 
the  various  eligible  projects  within  the  framework  of  the  financial  period  2007-2013,  the 
coordinators’ recommendations are as follows: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

concentrating  the  funds  available  primarily  on  the  cross-border  sections  with  a  high 
Community value added and on certain major bottlenecks in order to contribute to the 
completion, as soon as possible, of a genuine trans-European, interconnected and 
interoperable network; 

the need to take into account aspects relating to interoperability right from the project 
design phase; 

the application of a rate of support providing a sufficient incentive to allow the start of 
work on the cross-border sections and the bottlenecks In its proposal of 24 May 2006, 
the  Commission  proposed  a  support  rate  of  20%  of  the  total  cost  for  the  priority 
projects and up to 30% for the cross-border sections of these projects. For the ERTMS 
system deployment projects, the proposed support rate amounts to 50%3. 

Within  this  framework,  the  coordinators  consider  that  only  optimum  coordination  of  the 
various Community interventions will make it possible to contribute to the implementation of 
these priority projects within the time limits set in the decision on the TEN-T guidelines. 

In this context, these priority sections should in particular receive special attention within the 
national strategic reference frameworks for the programming of the Structural and Cohesion 
Funds  being  prepared  for  2007-2013,  the  implementation  arrangements  for  which  are  more 
favourable than those in force for the TEN budget. Moreover, for projects where they appear 
suitable, innovative financing arrangements such as PPP (public-private partnerships) should 
be developed. 

The  steering  group  for  the  trans-European  networks4  was  created  at  the  same  time  as  the 
coordinator's function and is working currently on these questions. It has to submit a report to 
the  Commission  by  the  end  of  2006.  All  the  coordinators  were  given  a  hearing  within  the 
framework of this group. They were therefore able to inform the Commission of the state of 
progress with each project, and also of their ideas on the steps to be taken in order to make the 
financing  of  these  major  infrastructures  more  attractive  and  to  improve  the  coordination  of 
Community support from various funds. 

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COM(2006) 245. 
The  group  is  chaired  by  the  Vice-President  responsible  for  transport  and  composed  of  the  Vice-
President responsible for the information society and the media, and the Commissioners responsible for 
regional  policy,  financial  planning  and  the  budget,  the  environment,  economic  and  monetary  affairs, 
and energy. 

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4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  designation  of  coordinators  for  five  priority  corridors  and  for  the  horizontal  project 
ERTMS has been a  positive experience which has made it possible to generate momentum. 
These projects can now be identified with a particular individual, the European coordinator, 
who can be contacted directly where necessary. His role is perceived positively by the parties 
involved, at both national and local level. 

Moreover, the coordinators’ activities were characterised by a high degree of transparency, in 
particular with regard to the European Parliament. All the coordinators were given a hearing 
by  the  European  Parliament’s  Committee  on  Transport  and  Tourism  between  January  and 
May 2006 in order to present the actions undertaken. 

This is only a first report but it covers a landmark year. The next few months, from now until 
the  end  of  2006,  will  probably  be  the  most  important  ones  for  the  planning  and  financial 
arrangements for several of these major projects. 

The amount of Community support which could be granted, in particular to the cross-border 
sections, will enable the Member States concerned to decide on the future of these projects. It 
is not impossible that, if the Community support rate is too low, certain projects might not be 
carried out in the immediate future or would be delayed. 

The coordinators therefore recommend that a choice  should  be  made  to  concentrate  support 
under the TEN budget in order to maximise its leverage effect. The Commission points out, 
however,  that  the  financial  needs  considered  necessary  by  each  coordinator  for  the  projects 
for  which  they  are  responsible  will  have  to  be  incorporated  into  the  overall  analysis  of  the 
funds  necessary  for  the  TENs  within  the  framework  of  the  multiannual  programming  for 
2007-2013  for  the  30  priority  projects  identified  in  the  Decision  of  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 29 April 2004. 

Moreover, the various contributions by the coordinators demonstrate clearly the need to adopt 
an integrated approach which does not separate the infrastructure from the future use which 
will be made of it. That is why the aspects relating to the adoption of the ERTMS system, the 
development of interoperability on certain key corridors and infrastructure charging are also 
covered by the coordinators’ activities. In addition, the corridor approach which was adopted 
has  also  made  it  possible  to  have  a  precise  view  of  these  priority  links,  and  considerable 
progress has been made over the past year. 

While the coordinators' contribution is not quantifiable precisely, it is in no way an abstract 
concept. The results already achieved highlight that action by the coordinators was decisive 
for the conclusion of certain agreements and for obtaining firm official commitments by the 
Member  States  concerned  to  carry  out  studies  or  launch  activities,  decisions  which  were 
inconceivable a few months ago. For certain corridors, difficulties – sometimes major ones – 
were  brought  to  light,  also  as  a  result  of  the  activity  of  the  coordinators.  This  transparency 
concerning  the  progress  with  these  corridors  is  thus  an  additional  guarantee  for  the 
Commission  which,  when  it  decides  to  enter  into  financial  commitments  for  certain 
operations, will do so with a full knowledge of the facts. 

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The  Commission  thanks  the  European  coordinators  for  the  work  carried  out  in 
accordance with their mandate during their first year of activity. Considerable progress 
has  been  made.  The  Commission  calls  on  them  to  continue  their  action  in  accordance 
with their mission statement. 

The  information  which  will  be  communicated  by  the  coordinators  during  the  next  six 
months  will  be  used  by  the  Commission,  together  with  other  factors,  within  the 
framework  of  the  preparation  of  the  overall  financial  planning  of  the  trans-European 
transport networks  for the period 2007-2013.  The continuation of their mission should 
also  enable  the  coordinators  to  obtain,  as  far  as  possible,  guarantees  on  the  financial 
commitments of the Member States concerned by these priority projects. 

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ANNEX 

List of coordinators 

–  Mr  Karel  Van  Miert,  for  priority  project  No  1  (Berlin-Verona/Milan-Bologna-Naples-

Messina-Palermo rail link). 

–  Mr  Étienne  Davignon,  for  priority  project  No  3  (South-west  European  high-speed  rail 

link). 

–  Ms  Loyola  de  Palacio,  for  priority  project  No  6  (Lyon-Trieste-Divaca/Koper-Divača-

Ljubljana-Budapest-Ukrainian frontier rail link). 

–  Mr  Péter  Balázs,  for  priority  project  No  17  (Paris-Strasbourg-Stuttgart-Vienna-Bratislava 

rail link). 

–  Mr Pavel Telicka, for priority project No 27 (“Rail Baltica” Warsaw-Kaunas-Riga-Tallinn-

Helsinki rail link). 

–  Mr Karel Vinck for the ERTMS project. 

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