Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Trans-European transport network - Report on the implementation of the guidelines 2002-2003 pursuant to article 18 of Decision 1692/96/EC {SEC(2007) 313}
Date: 2007-03-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common transport policy, economic and social cohesion, environmental protection, trans-European network, transport network

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 13.3.2007 
COM(2007) 94 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Trans-European transport network 

Report on the implementation of the guidelines 2002-2003 

pursuant to article 18 of Decision 1692/96/EC 

{SEC(2007) 313} 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 

The Policy Context..................................................................................................................... 3 

The Implementation ................................................................................................................... 5 

Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................... 5 

1.1 

1.2 

Implementation in general............................................................................................ 5 

Implementation by mode and sector ............................................................................ 6 

1.2.1 

TEN-T road network .................................................................................................... 6 

1.2.2 

TEN-T railway network ............................................................................................... 6 

1.2.3 

TEN-T inland waterways network ............................................................................... 6 

1.2.4 

TEN-T ports ................................................................................................................. 6 

1.2.5 

TEN-T airports ............................................................................................................. 7 

1.2.6  Combined transport network........................................................................................ 7 

1.2.7 

Traffic management and navigation systems............................................................... 7 

Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................... 8 

2.1 

Horizontal issues .......................................................................................................... 8 

2.1.1 

Interoperability............................................................................................................. 8 

2.1.2  Research and development........................................................................................... 8 

2.1.3 

Environmental protection............................................................................................. 8 

Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................... 9 

3.1 

3.2 

3.3 

General assessment of TEN-T implementation in the 2002 – 2003 period ................. 9 

Priority projects.......................................................................................................... 10 

Sources of funding ..................................................................................................... 11 

3.3.1 

TEN-T budget ............................................................................................................ 11 

3.3.2 

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) ....................................................... 11 

3.3.3  Cohesion Fund ........................................................................................................... 12 

3.3.4 

ISPA Fund.................................................................................................................. 12 

3.3.5 

European Investment Bank Loans ............................................................................. 12 

3.3.6  General assessment of funding sources...................................................................... 12 

Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 13 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND 
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Trans-European transport network 

Report on the implementation of the guidelines 2002-2003 

pursuant to article 18 of Decision 1692/96/EC 

INTRODUCTION  

This  report  provides  an  assessment  of  the  development  of  the  trans-European  transport 
network  (TEN-T)  following  the  TEN-T  guidelines  set  out  in  Decision  1692/96/EC1.  The 
guidelines  constitute  a  general  reference  framework  for  the  implementation  of  the  network 
and identify projects of common interest, which were to be completed by 2010. The transport 
modes in the scope of the guidelines are: road, rail and inland waterway networks, motorways 
of  the  sea,  seaports  and  inland  waterway  ports,  airports  and  other  interconnection  points 
between modal networks, as well as traffic management and navigation systems. 

Article  18  §3  of  the  Decision  requires  the  Commission,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Member 
States, to report on the implementation of the guidelines every two years.  

This  report  covers  a  two-year  period,  from  2002  to  end  of  2003.  The  investment  data 
contained  in  the  report  refer  to  the  “old”  and  “new”  Member  States  and  to  Bulgaria  and 
Romania and a partial distinction is made between EU-152, EU-103 and EU-24 and EU-27 (all 
three groups of States). 

THE POLICY CONTEXT 

In  July  1996  the  European  Parliament  and  Council  adopted  Decision  No.  1692/96/EC  on 
Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). 
The  TEN-T  guidelines  are  the  general  reference  framework  for  the  implementation  of  the 
network and identification of projects of common interest. The European Council in Essen in 
1994 attributed particular importance to fourteen of these projects. 

In September 2001, the Commission adopted its White Paper “European Transport Policy for 
2010: time to decide”. In the light of worsening congestion and the growing external costs of 
transport, it advocated a greater emphasis of the Common Transport Policy on revising modal 

1 

2 

3 
4 

DECISION  No  1692/96/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  July  1996  on 
Community  guidelines  for  the  development  of  the  trans-European  transport  network,  O  J  L228, 
09/09/1996  
Austria,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Ireland,  Italy,  Luxemburg, 
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom 
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia 
Bulgaria and Romania 

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shift as a way towards sustainability. In general, passenger transport is not growing as quickly 
as GDP, while goods transport grows more than GDP. In practice road transport is growing at 
approximately the same rate as GDP as are, sea transport and air transport.  

130

125

120

115

110

105

100

95

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

Goods transport

(Real) GDP

Passenger transport

Transport demand versus growth of GDP from 1995 to 2004 in the EU 255 

On 22 May 2001 Decision No 1346/2001/EC6 was adopted by the European Parliament and 
the Council, amending the TEN-T guidelines as regards seaports, inland ports and intermodal 
terminals,  emphasising  the  multimodal  dimension  of  the  network  and  thus  reacting  on  the 
recent developments.  

In  October  2001  the  Commission  proposed  an  amendment  to  the  Decision  1692/96/EC  on 
Community  guidelines  for  the  development  of  the  trans-European  transport  network.  The 
proposal  was  approved  by  the  European  Parliament  at  its  first  reading  with  some 
modifications. As the proposal did not make progress in the Council, the Commission decided 
to  bring  forward  the  more  comprehensive  amendment  of  the  guidelines  and  set  up  a  High 
Level  Group  (HLG)  chaired  by  the  former  Commission  Vice-President  Mr.  Van  Miert  and 
comprising representatives from the EU27 and the European Investment Bank. On 1 October 
2003, the Commission presented a new proposal complementing the 2001 proposal based on 
the  work  of  the  HLG  and  taking  into  account  comments  received  from  the  European 
Parliament  in  its  first  reading.  Following  the  recommendations  of  the  HLG  the  decision 
identified 30 priority projects of considerable importance for international traffic. The priority 
projects also include projects in the new Member States.  

In April 2004 the European Parliament and the Council adopted the revised guidelines with 
Decision  No.  884/2004/EC7,  amending  Decision  No.  1692/96/EC.  The  amended  guidelines 
give  greater  priority  to  key  projects  and  concentrate  scarce  funds  on  projects  of  European 

5 
6 

7 

Source: EU energy and transport in figures 2005 – statistical pocketbook. 
Decision  No  1346/2001/EC  amending  Decision  No  1692/96/EC  as  regards  seaports,  inland  ports  and 
intermodal terminals as well as project No 8 in Annex III (Official Journal 2001, L 185/1)  
Decision No 884/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004, amending 
Decision  No  1692/96/EC  on  Community  guidelines  for  the  development  of  the  trans-European 
transport network OS L201, 07/06/2004 

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interest  –  like  cross-border  sections  and  natural  barriers  –  and  have  a  time  horizon  for 
completion by 2020.  

Further  within  the  general  objective  of  ensuring  sustainable  mobility  of  people  and  goods, 
mechanisms  should  be  put  in  place  to  support  the  development  of  motorways  of  the  sea 
between  Member  States  in  order  to  reduce  road  congestion  and/or  improve  access  to 
peripheral and island regions and States.  

THE IMPLEMENTATION 

Funds  allocated  to  TEN-T  implementation  in  2002  and  2003  were  analysed  to  prepare  this 
report, by project and by Member State, with a special focus on priority projects. In order to 
monitor  the  development  of  the  TEN-T  network  a  forecast  of  investments  in  and  physical 
implementation of TEN-T from 2004 to 2020 has been made. 

The total investment in the TEN-T network in the EU-27 over the two years period 2002 – 
2003 was approximately EUR 82 billion. 

A general assessment of the sources of the TEN-T investments during the period in question 
shows  that  the national public  funding contributed about 78%,  by far the  largest  part of the 
investments in the TEN-T network in the 2002 – 2003 period: together with loans from EIB, 
these two sources contributed more than 90% of the investment on the TEN-T network. 

CHAPTER 1 

1.1 

Implementation in general  

The total investment in the TEN-T network in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 38.5 billion in the 
2002 and 43.8 billion in 2003.  

In  terms  of  mode,  the  investment  in  the  2002  –  2003  period  focused  on  railways  (46%), 
followed  by  roads  (33%),  airports  (12%),  ports  (6%)  and  inland  waterways  (2%).  This 
distribution did not change significantly compared to the 1998 – 2001 period.  

12,5%

6,4%

2,2%

33,0%

45,9%

ROADS

RAIL

IWW

PORTS

AIRPORTS

Figure 2: Investments per mode in 2002 and 2003  

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1.2 

Implementation by mode and sector  

1.2.1 

TEN-T road network  

The  guidelines  define  the  TEN-T  road  network  as  being  composed  of  motorways  and  other 
high-quality road. The length of the TEN-T road network, composed of roads either existing 
or planned, in the EU-27 is approx. 95,700 km – 74,500 km existing and 21,200 km planned 
with a time horizon of 2020.  

Total investment in the TEN-T road network in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 11.53 billion in 
2002 and EUR 15.61 billion in 2003 (a total of EUR 27.14 billion in the 2002 – 2003 period). 
In  comparison  with  investments  in  previous  years  the  average  annual  amount  in  roads 
investment slightly increased in the 2002 – 2003 period.  

1.2.2 

TEN-T railway network 

The TEN-T railway network in the EU-27 had a total length of approximately 83,300 km in 
2003. The high-speed lines, plus new and upgraded lines, amounted to 9,600 km in 2003 and 
the conventional lines were 73,700 km.  

Total investment in the TEN-T railways network in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 18.82 billion 
in  2002  and  EUR  18.92  billion  in  2003  (a  total  of  EUR  37.74  billion  in  the  2002  –  2003 
period).  

1.2.3 

TEN-T inland waterways network 

The TEN-T inland waterway network comprises rivers and canals and various branches and 
links connecting them. The minimum technical characteristics for waterways forming part of 
the  network  are  those  laid  down  for  a  class  IV  waterway.  These  allow  for  the  passage  of 
vessels or pushed ‘trains’ of 80 – 85 metres long and 9.50 metres wide.  

The countries that have inland waterways belonging to the TEN-T inland waterway network 
in  the  EU-27  are  Austria,  Belgium,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Luxembourg, 
Netherlands,  Portugal,  Czech  Republic,  Hungary,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Slovakia,  Bulgaria  and 
Romania. 

The  total  length  of  the  existing8  TEN-T  inland  waterways  network  in  the  EU-27  was  about 
14,100 km in 2003. The main axes in the network are the Rhine, Main and the Danube. The 
Danube River forms one of the most important parts of the network in the EU10 and EU2.  

Total  investment  in  the  TEN-T  inland  waterways  network  in  the  EU-15  amounted  to  EUR 
892 million in 2002 and EUR 943 million in 2003 (a total of EUR 1,853 million in the 2002 – 
2003 period).  

1.2.4 

TEN-T ports 

Decision  No. 1346/2001/EC9,  amending  the guidelines adopted in 1996 as  regards seaports, 
inland ports and intermodal terminals, as well as project No. 8 in Annex III, was adopted by 

8 

The  figures  on  inland  waterways  under  construction  or  planned  are  not  included  in  the  figure  of  the 
currently existing inland waterways network; 

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the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  22  May  2001.  The  Decision  states  that 
interconnection  points,  including  seaports,  inland  ports  and  intermodal  terminals,  are  a  pre-
condition for the integration of the different transport modes in a multimodal network. 

Total investments in  TEN-T ports in  the EU-27 amounted  to  EUR  2.66  billion in  2002  and 
EUR 2.64 billion in 2003 (a total of EUR 5.30 billion in the 2002 – 2003 period).  

1.2.5 

TEN-T airports 

The  TEN-T  airport  network  comprises  around  350  airports.  The  largest  60  airports  handle 
more  than  80%10  of  all  passengers  and  more  than  90%  of  extra-Community  international 
traffic.  

The total investment in TEN-T airports in the EU-27 amount to EUR 4.55 billion in 2002 and 
EUR  5.73  billion  in  2003  (a  total  of  EUR  10.28  billion  in  the  2002  –  2003  period).  As 
Malpensa  Airport,  the  Priority  Project  No  10  was  completed  in  2001,  the  annual  average 
investments decreased in the 2002 – 2003 period vis a vis the figures of 2000 and 2001.  

1.2.6  Combined transport network 

The  trans-European  combined  transport  network  comprises  railways  and  inland  waterways, 
which are suitable for combined transport and maritime links which permit the long-distance 
transport  of  goods,  and  intermodal  terminals  equipped  with  installations  permitting 
transhipment  between  railways,  inland  waterways,  shipping  routes  and  roads.  Also  suitable 
rolling  stock  is  included.  The  aim  of  including  combined  transport  is  to  emphasise  the 
multimodal dimension of the network. 

1.2.7 

Traffic management and navigation systems 

The  TEN-T  guidelines  include  the  telematics  infrastructure  for  traffic  management  systems 
and  traffic  information  services.  The  aim  is  to  ensure  interoperability  and  the  continuity  of 
services across borders. 

The Action Programme for Road Transport Telematics endorsed by the Council of Ministers 
in 1997 was developed by the European Commission with the help of a group of high-level 
representatives  from  all  Member  States.  In  these  proposals  –  which  deal  with  research  and 
development,  technical  harmonisation,  concentration  and  co-ordination,  financing  and 
legislation  –  five  priority  areas  were  identified:  RDS-TMC-based  information  services, 
exchange/information  management,  HMI 
electronic 
(human/machine interface) and system architecture. Other priority applications related to pre-
trip  and  on-trip  information  and  guidance,  inter-urban  and  urban  traffic  management, 
operation  and  control,  collective  transport,  advanced  vehicle  safety/control  systems  and 
commercial vehicle operations. 

traffic  data 

collection, 

fee 

The White Paper on Transport Policy published in 2001 also announced that a Directive on 
the  interoperability  of  tolling  systems  would  be  proposed  by  the  Commission  in  order  to 
support the overall pricing policy to be developed between 2001 and 2010. This Directive is 
of paramount importance to the interoperability - Directive on Interoperability of Electronic 

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Road  Tolling  systems  in  the  Community11  -  and  service  continuity  of  the  Trans-European 
Road Network (TERN). 

CHAPTER 2 

2.1 

Horizontal issues 

2.1.1 

Interoperability 

One of the main objectives of TEN-T is interoperability of national networks. Interoperability 
of the rail networks should integrate the national conventional and high-speed rail systems in 
order  to  make  international  services  more  efficient  and  thus  competitive.  Greater 
interoperability, i.e. the capacity for trains to cross national frontiers without the need to stop 
or  even  out  technical  differences,  significantly  enhances  transport  performance  and  reduces 
operational costs. 

2.1.2 

Research and development 

Research  and  development  is  one  of  the  broad  measures  covered  by  the  TEN-T  guidelines. 
Under  the  Fifth  Framework  Programme  (1998  –  2002)  and  Sixth  Framework  Programme 
(2002 – 2006) for research, technological development and demonstration, several key actions 
of  individual  specific  programmes,  such  as  sustainable  mobility  and  intermodality,  land 
transport and marine technologies, efficient energy systems, and services for the citizen were 
initiated. 

In  particular,  the  transport  research  programme  has  contributed  to  EU  policy  on  the  trans-
European  transport  network  by  providing  support  for  the  planning  and  financing  of  the 
investment  programme  and  the  development  of  new  infrastructure  and  services.  Evaluation 
methodologies and software tools have been provided to help policy makers assess the impact 
of  different  infrastructure  plans.  New  solutions  for  the  efficient  operation  of  networks  and 
terminals have also been assessed. 

2.1.3 

Environmental protection 

Sustainable  environmental  development  and  protection  is  an  important  cross-cutting  issue, 
highly  relevant  for  the  development  of  the  TEN-T  network  but  also  for  the  different 
horizontal  issues.  International  commitments,  standards  and  recommendations  already  exist 
for various environmental issues relating to transport.  

In article 8 of the guidelines 1692/96 it says that when projects are developed and carried out, 
environmental  protection  must  be  taken  into  account  by  the  Member  States  through  the 
execution of environmental impact assessments (EIA) of projects of common interest which 
are  to  be  implemented,  pursuant  to  Directive  85/337/EEC  and  through  the  application  of 
Directive  92/43/EEC.  Member  States  are  required  to  take  the  results  of  this  environmental 
assessment  into  account  in  the  preparation  of projects,  including  those  relating  to  the  trans-
European networks 

11 

Directive  2004/52/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  29  April  2004  on  the 
interoperability of electronic road toll systems in the Community (Text with EEA relevance), Ref. OJ L 
166 , 30/04/2004 

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Legal  Provisions  on  strategic  environmental  assessment  (SEA)  were  established  in  the 
Community  by  Directive  2001/42/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27 
June  2001  on  the  assessment  of  the  effects  of  certain  plans  and  programmes  on  the 
environment. The Member States should have transposed this Directive into national law by 
July 2004. The Directive applies to all transport plans and programmes giving rise to future 
the plans and programmes.  

CHAPTER 3 

3.1 

General assessment of TEN-T implementation in the 2002 – 2003 period 

The total investment in the TEN-T network in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 82.3 billion in the 
2002 – 2003 period.  

Most of the investments went into railways (about EUR 38 billion) followed by roads ((about 
EUR 27 billion) and airports ((about EUR 10 billion). 

80,00

70,00

60,00

50,00

40,00

30,00

20,00

10,00

0,00

RAIL

ROAD

AIRPORT

PORT

IWW

2000 and 2001

2002 and 2003

Figure  3:  Investment  in  the  TEN-T  network  in  the  EU-27  in  2000  and  2001  compared  with  investment 
2002-2003 in billions of EUR 

The countries with the highest investment in the 2002 – 2003 period were Italy (EUR 22.56 
billion), Spain (EUR 9.88 billion), UK (EUR 7.91 billion), Germany (EUR 7.39 billion) and 
France (EUR 6.20 billion). 

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25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0

IT

ES UK DE FR NL BE AT EL PT

IE

SE

FI DK LU

RAIL

ROADS

AIRPORTS

PORTS

IWW

Figure  4:  Investment  in  the  TEN-T  network  per  country  and  mode  in  the  EU-15  in  2002  and  2003  in 
millions of EUR 

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

CZ

HU

PL

RO

SI

SK

BG

EE

LT

LV

MT

CY

ROADS

RAIL

AIRPORTS

IWW

PORTS

Figure 5: Investment in the TEN-T network per country and mode in the EU-10 and EU-2 in 2002 and 
2003 in millions of EUR 

In the EU-10 and EU-2 the countries with the highest investments in the 2002 – 2003 period 
were the Czech Republic (EUR 1.66 billion), Hungary (EUR 1.40 billion), and Poland (EUR 
0.87 billion). 

3.2 

Priority projects 

The  trans-European  transport  network  consists  of  many  projects  of  common  interest. 
However, some projects are of particular importance to the European Union given their scale, 
their role in supporting trans-national trade and in reinforcing the cohesion of the Union, or 
the extent in which they help in concentrating long distance traffic flows on environmentally 
friendly modes of transport.  

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Under the 1996 guidelines12, 14 priority projects are included, which were to be completed by 
2010.  On  29  April  2004  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  adopted  the  2004 
guidelines13, which include 30 priority projects, to be completed by 2020. 

By the end of 2003, three priority projects were completed: 

•  PP9 Railway axis Cork-Dublin-Belfast-Stranraer (Ireland, UK) in 1989 – 2001. 

•  PP10 Malpensa Airport (Milan, Italy) in 1995 – 2001. 

•  PP11 Öresund fixed link (Denmark, Sweden) in 1992 – 2001. 

The investment on the priority projects to the end of 2004 amounted to EUR 88.5 billion. The 
remaining  investments  into  these  projects  in  the  2005–  2020  period  are  about  EUR  252 
billion. Thus the total investments and investments in the priority projects, as notified by the 
Member States in 2004, for the whole 1996 – 2020 period will reach about EUR 340 billion. 
Provided that the Member States will in future focus on investing in the priority projects, the 
projects could eventually be finalised before 2020. 

3.3 

Sources of funding 

In addition to national funding (by public authorities), a certain proportion of the investment 
on  the  TEN-T  network  is  co-financed  by  various  Community  funds,  such  as  the  TEN-T 
budget,  the  Cohesion  Fund,  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF),  the 
Instrument  for  Structural  Policies  for  Pre-Accession  (ISPA)  and  funding  provided  by  the 
European  Investment  Bank  (EIB).  These  sources  of  support  have  their  specific  eligibility 
criteria, objectives and funding conditions. A limited number of projects, mainly in the airport 
and port sectors, receive funding by the private sector. 

3.3.1 

TEN-T budget 

In  the  2002  –  2003  period,  a  total  amount  of  EUR  1.19  billion  was  funded  by  the  TEN-T 
budget.  In  line  with  the  TEN-T  guidelines,  the  majority  of  funding  is  allocated  to  railways, 
accounting  for  49.6%  of  total  TEN-T  support  in  this  period.  In  addition,  the  importance  of 
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) was underlined again in the 2002 – 2003 period. 
A total amount of EUR 250 million (21.0%) was allocated to Galileo and another EUR 52.4 
million  (4.4%)  was  allocated  to  the  associated  European  Geostationary  Navigation  Overlay 
Service (EGNOS) project. 

3.3.2 

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 

In 2002 and 2003 the ERDF provided assistance for investments in TEN-T infrastructure in 
those  areas  eligible  for  funding  under  Objectives  1  and  2.  In  contrast  to  other  Community 
funds  the  management  of  the  ERDF  is  decentralised  to  the  Member  States.  Under  the 
Regulations covering the period 2000-2006 the data register at Community level is not able to 
distinguish by year between TEN and non-TEN related expenditure in, for example, the area 
of transport. Detailed and accurate figures for ERDF spending on TEN projects are therefore 

12 
13 

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not  available  at  present  and  any  figures  given  are  to  be  considered  as  the  best  available 
estimates. 

On  the  basis  of  allocations  for  2000-2006  (Objectives  1  and  2),  made  in  the  programming 
documents  of  Member  States,  the  total  allocation  of  ERDF  to  all  transport  investments  is 
estimated  at  34.1  billion  for  the  whole  period  ,  including  both  TEN  and  non-TEN  related 
expenditure  

3.3.3  Cohesion Fund  

The total Cohesion Fund budget 2000-2006 amounts to EUR 28.2 billion, of which about half 
is  allocated  to  transport  projects  which  play  a  major  role  in  the  development  of  the  TEN-T 
network.  In  the  2002  –  2003  period  around  EUR  3.03  billion  from  the  Cohesion  Fund  was 
committed to transport infrastructure projects in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland14.  

3.3.4 

ISPA Fund  

By  supporting  investment  in  Community  priority  fields  of  transport  and  environment,  the 
Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) contributed to the preparation of 
Central  and  East  European  accession  countries.  With  regard  to  transport  infrastructure 
projects,  ISPA  assisted  the  building  and  rehabilitation  of  transport  infrastructure  and  its 
integration  into  the  EU  transport  networks.  Total  ISPA  contribution  to  transport  projects  in 
2002 and 2003 was 1.06 billion Euros. 

3.3.5 

European Investment Bank Loans  

The EIB finances a large number of TEN-T projects provided that they pass an evaluation of 
technical,  financial  and  environmental  matters  and  that  the  projects  are  consistent  with  EU 
objectives.  

Key  aspects  of  EIB  loans  are  that  they  can  cover  up  to  50%  of  the  project  costs:  another 
advantage  vis  a  vis  most  of  the  commercial  banks  is  that  they  have  a  longer  term  for  their 
loans.  Moreover,  EIB  loans  are  provided  without  the  need  for  project  specific  premiums  as 
the EIB requires that loans are backed by a guarantee.  

The EIB loans in 2002 and 2003 amounted to nearly 12 billion Euros and the EIB will have 
about 50 billion EUR available to lend to TEN-T projects for the 2004 – 2010 period. 

3.3.6  General assessment of funding sources  

It  can  be  concluded  that  national  public  funding  contributed  by  far  the  largest  part  of  the 
investments in the TEN-T network in the 2002 – 2003 period. Together with private funding, 
it  accounted  for  about  78%  of  the  total  amount  of  investments  into  TEN-T  infrastructure. 
Although the exact amount of private funding is difficult to determine (due to the fact that for 
infrastructure in the private sector (e.g. ports and airports) it is difficult to obtain investment 
data), overall it represents a comparatively minor part.  

14 

Source: European Commission; annual report of the cohesion fund 2002, COM (2003) 697 and annual 
report of the cohesion fund 2003, COM (2004) 766 

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As  a  consequence,  national  public  funding  is  still  the  main  source  of  finance  for  TEN-T 
related projects.  

EIB  support  in  the  2002  –  2003  period  was  the  second  largest  funding  source  providing 
almost EUR 12 billion of loans (14.6%). Funding obtained from the other Community funds 
(Cohesion Fund, ERDF, ISPA and TEN-T budget) was relatively small, with shares ranging 
from 1.2% (ERDF), 1.3% (ISPA), 1.4% (TEN-T budget) to 3.7% (Cohesion Fund). 

Table 1: Distribution of TEN-T funding sources in million EUR 

TEN-T budget 

ISPA 

2002 

563.4 

539.1 

2003 

626.6 

524.7 

2002-03 

in % 

1,190.0 

1.4% 

1,063.8 

1.3% 

Cohesion Fund 

1,504.6 

1,526.1 

3,030.7 

3.7% 

EIB 

5,897.8 

6,090.9 

11,988.7 

14.6% 

ERDF (estimated) 

500.0 

500.0 

1,000.0 

1.2% 

National  budget  &  private 
sources 

29,540.4 

34,474.4 

64,014.8 

77.8% 

Total 

38,545.3 

43,742.7 

82,288.0 

100.0% 

CONCLUSION 

The  total  investment  in  the  TEN-T  network  in  the  EU-27  over  the  two  year  period  2002  – 
2003 showed that the average annual investments on the TEN-T network compared with 2000 
and 2001 increased.  

However,  as  these  investments  are  calculated  in  constant  prices  and  after  discussions  with 
representatives of the Member States, it is clear that the estimated investment in the TEN-T 
network  can  be  misleading.  Italy,  for  example,  spent  more  than  22  Billion  EUR  on  TEN-T 
due  to  a  very  intensive  investment  period  in  the  years  2002  and  2003.  The  average  annual 
investment  in  these  two  years  was  almost  double  compared  with  the  six  previous  years; 
additionally this EUR 22 Billion represents more than 25% of the total investments in the EU-
27. Taking this fact and when analysing the investments in more detail, it is apparent that the 
total investments per country in comparison with GDP development – especially in the EU-15 
- decreased; in Denmark for example only 0.09% of the GDP was spent for TEN-T, while in 
Slovenia about 1.46% of the GDP was committed for the development of the TEN-T network.  

Concerning financing, it can be concluded that national public funding still contributed by far 
the  largest  part  of  the  investments  in  the  TEN-T  network.  In  order  to  optimise  the  scarce 
Community  funds  and  to  facilitate  the  coordinated  implementation  of  certain  projects,  in 
particular cross-border projects, the Commission designated, in agreement with the Member 
the  European  Parliament  "European 
States  concerned,  and  after  having  consulted 
Coordinators".  The  European  Coordinator  acts  in  the  name  of  and  on  behalf  of  the 

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Commission  and  should  work  to  speed  up  the  implementation  of  the  projects  of  common 
interest.  

The completion of the 30 priority projects for international traffic by 2020 in general, is on 
track.  Thus  the  annual  investment  volume  in  the  years  2002  and  2003  was  about  EUR  40 
billion.  The  elimination  of  bottlenecks  especially  on  cross-border  sections  is  still  lagging 
behind and needs to be improved. 

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