Commission Decision of 26 October 2006 establishing the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003
Date: 2006-10-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, EU office or agency, management, trans-European network, transport network

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COMMISSION DECISION

of 26 October 2006

establishing the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency pursuant

to Council

Regulation (EC) No 58/2003

(2007/60/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu-
nity,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 of the Council of
19 December 2002 laying down the statute for executive
agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of
Community policies (1), and in particular Article (3)(1) thereof,

(6)

(7)

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 confers on the Commission
the power
to decide to set up executive agencies in
accordance with the statute established by that Regulation
and to give them responsibility for certain tasks relating to
the management of one or more Community programmes
or actions.

(2)

(3)

(4)

The purpose of empowering the Commission to set up
executive agencies is to allow it to focus on core activities
and functions which cannot be outsourced, without
relinquishing control over, or ultimate responsibility for,
activities managed by the executive agencies.

The management of Community action in the field of the
trans-European transport network concerns the implemen-
tation of projects which do not involve political decision-
making and requires a high level of technical and financial
expertise throughout the project cycle.

Tasks relating to the implementation of such Community
action may be delegated to an executive agency with a clear
the establishment of
separation between programming,
priorities and programme evaluation,
for which the
Commission will be responsible, and the implementation
of the projects, which will be entrusted to the executive
agency.

(5) Cost/benefit analysis carried out for this purpose has shown
that the setting-up of an executive agency would make it
possible to improve the effectiveness of the implementation
of the trans-European transport network at a lower cost. In
view of the characteristics inherent in the trans-European
transport network, the stress must be on the delegation of
technical tasks, the main aim being to strengthen the links
between the trans-European transport network and the
communities of experts.

(1) OJ L 11, 16.1.2003, p. 1.

The agency must mobilise a high level of expertise in
accordance with the objectives defined by the Commission,
and under its supervision. The setting up of the agency
must also make it possible to optimise the implementation
of
the trans-European transport network by making it
easier to recruit staff specialised in matters relating to the
trans-European transport network.

The setting-up of the agency must increase flexibility in the
implementation of Community action in the field of the
trans-European transport network. The agency's annual
work programme must enable it in particular to contribute
to the achievement of
the
implementation of the trans-European transport network,
as planned and agreed by the Commission. The agency
must also ensure better coordination of funds with other
Community instruments.

the annual priorities

for

(8) Management based on the results obtained by the agency,
with the establishment of the necessary procedures and
supervision and coordination circuits, must enable the
Commission to simplify the arrangements for the imple-
mentation of the trans-European transport network. The
Commission will be able to capitalise on the technical work
carried out by the agency by developing in parallel, in an
appropriate manner, tasks which involve making policy
judgments.

(9) Cooperation between the agency and the Commission and
the accomplishment of
its specific tasks must make it
possible to raise the profile of Community action in the
field of the trans-European transport network.

(10) The measures provided for in this Decision are consistent
the Executive

the Committee of

with the opinion of
Agencies,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Setting up the agency

1. An executive agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’) is hereby set
up for the management of Community action in the field of the
the status of which is
trans-European transport network,
governed by Regulation (EC) No 58/2003.

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2. The Agency shall be known as the ‘Trans-European Transport
Network Executive Agency’.

2236/95,
contracts and grants (3);

in particular those relating to the award of

Article 2

Location

(e)

the collection, analysis and transmission to the Commis-
sion of all information required for the implementation of
the trans-European transport network;

The Agency shall be located in Brussels.

(f)

any technical and administrative support requested by the
Commission.

Article 3

Duration

The Agency shall be set up for a period starting on 1 November
2006 and ending on 31 December 2008.

Article 4

Objectives and tasks

for

the implementation of

1. The Agency shall be responsible,
in the framework of
Community action in the field of the trans-European transport
network,
tasks concerning the
granting of Community financial aid pursuant to Regulation
No 2236/95 of the Council (2), excluding programming, the
establishment of priorities, programme evaluation, the adoption
of financing decisions and legislative monitoring. It shall be
responsible in particular for the following tasks:

(a) management of the preparatory, funding and monitoring
phases of the financial assistance granted to projects of
common interest under the budget for the trans-European
transport network, as well as the supervision required for
this purpose, by taking relevant decisions where the
Commission has delegated responsibility for it to do so;

(b)

(c)

(d)

coordination with other Community instruments by
ensuring better coordination of assistance, over the entire
route, for priority projects which also receive funding under
the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund and from the
European Investment Bank;

technical assistance to project promoters regarding the
financial engineering for projects and the development of
common evaluation methods;

adoption of the budget implementation instruments for
income and expenditure and implementation, where the
Commission has delegated responsibility to it, of all
operations required for the management of Community
actions
the trans-European transport
network, as provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No

in the field of

2.
Implementation of the tasks provided for in paragraph 1(b)
shall not affect the responsibilities of the authorities managing
operational programmes co-financed by the Structural Funds or
the Cohesion Fund as regards the selection or implementation of
projects which are part of the trans-European transport network
or the financial responsibility of
the Member States in the
framework of shared management of these programmes.

In addition to the tasks referred to in paragraph 1 above, the
3.
Agency may be instructed by the Commission, after
the
Committee for Executive Agencies has delivered an opinion, to
carry out tasks of the same kind in the framework of other
Community programmes or actions, within the meaning of
Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 58/2003, provided that such
programmes or actions remain within the limits of Community
action in the field of the trans-European transport network.

4. The Commission's decision delegating responsibility shall
define the details of all the tasks entrusted to the Agency, and
shall be adjusted in line with additional tasks which may be
entrusted to the Agency. It shall be transmitted, for information,
to the Committee for Executive Agencies.

Article 5

Organisational structure

1. The Agency shall be managed by a steering committee and a
director appointed by the Commission.

2. The members of the steering committee shall be nominated
for the period stated in Article 3.

3. The director of the Agency shall be appointed for the period
stated in Article 3..

Article 6

Subsidy

The Agency shall receive a subsidy entered in the general budget
of the European Communities and taken from the financial
the trans-
allocation for Community action in the field of

(2) OJ L 228, 9.9.1996, p. 1. Decision last amended by Decision No

884/2004/EC (OJ L 167, 30.4.2004, p. 1).

(3) OJ L 228, 23.9.1995, p. 1.

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European transport network and, where appropriate, other
Community programmes or actions whose implementation is
entrusted to the Agency pursuant to Article 4(3).

Article 8

Implementation of the operating budget

Article 7

Supervision and reporting requirement

The Agency shall be under the supervision of the Commission
and shall provide regular reports on the implementation of the
Community action in the field of the trans-European transport
network which is entrusted to it, in accordance with the detailed
arrangements and at
the intervals specified in the decision
delegating responsibility.

The Agency shall implement its operating budget in accordance
with the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1653/
2004 (4).

Done at Brussels, 26 October 2006.

For the Commission
Jacques BARROT
Vice-President

(4) OJ L 297, 22.9.2004, p 6.