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 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European transport and energy networks
Date: 2007-03-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financial instrument, energy grid, financial aid, transport infrastructure, transport network

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.3.2007 
COM(2007) 152 final 

2004/0154 (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 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of 
the European Parliament and of the Council laying down general rules for the granting 
of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European transport and energy 
networks  

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2004/0154 (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 adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of 
the European Parliament and of the Council laying down general rules for the granting 
of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European transport and energy 
networks  

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the Commission proposal to the EP and the 
Council (COM(2004) 475 –2004/0154(COD)) 

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

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

Date of transmission of the amended Commission proposal to the EP and 
the Council (COM(2006) 245 – 2004/0154 (COD)):  

Date of adoption of the common position: 

14.7.2004

10.3.2005

26.10.2005

24.5.2006

22.3.2007

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

On  14  July  2004,  the  Commission  adopted  a  proposal  for  a  Regulation  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  laying  down  general  rules  for  the  granting  of  Community 
financial aid in the field of trans-European transport and energy networks, which is a proposal 
to succeed Council Regulation (EC) No 2236/95.  

The objective of the Regulation is to define the conditions, means and the procedures for the 
granting  of  Community  aid  to  projects  of  common  interest  in  the  field  of  trans-European 
transport and energy networks on the basis of article 155, paragraph 1 of the Treaty. 

The original Commission proposal was amended on 24 May 2006, mainly to take account of 
the  inter-institutional  agreement  on  the  Community's  financial  framework  for  the  period 
2007-2013 of April 2006. 

The budgetary resources set out in the Commission's initial proposal significantly exceed the 
amounts  established  in  the  financial  framework  2007-2013  for  TENs  both  in  the  fields  of 
transport and energy. The revision of the initial "TEN-Regulation" proposal, therefore, results 
from the need to adapt the regulation to the budgetary resources confirmed in April 2006. 

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The  resources  established  in  the  financial  framework  represent  only  40%  of  the  amount 
initially  proposed  for  the  transport  sector,  and  45%  of  that  proposed  for  the  energy  sector. 
This also makes it necessary to adapt the procedures for the granting of aid (in particular, the 
procedures for project selection and rates of support).  

In addition to this, part of the amendments proposed by the European Parliament in its first 
reading  was  taken  into  account  in  the  revised  proposal.  Finally,  a  number  of  drafting 
improvements were introduced into the proposal. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

The Council adopted its common position by a qualified majority on 22.3.2007. This text not 
only  represents  the  Council’s  position  but  also  reflects  the  compromise  agreed  upon  by  the 
three institutions following the trilogue negotiations held from September to November 2006. 
The  Chairman  of  the  European  Parliament’s  Budget  Committee  and  the  rapporteur  for  this 
proposal  have  informed  the  Council  Presidency  by  letter  that  if  the  compromise  text  is 
adopted by the Council as it stands, they would be recommending the Budget Committee and 
the plenary to approve the common position without amendments in the Parliament's second 
reading. 

The common position introduced a number of changes in the Commission proposal; the main 
ones are listed below:  

- Article 2, article 6 and the annex introduce two new forms of granting Community aid for 
public-private-partnership  projects  in  the  field  of  transport.  They  have  been  elaborated  in 
close cooperation with and are supported by the Commission and the EIB.  

- Article 5, concerning the selection of projects, was modified in order to make these rules as 
coherent as possible with the existing transport and energy guidelines and taking into account 
views expressed by the Council and the EP. These changes are acceptable to the Commission.  

-  Article  6  was  largely  maintained,  only  the  proposed  support  rates  for  inland  waterway 
priority projects and energy priority projects were not accepted. The Commission regrets that 
its proposed rates were not supported in its entirety but accepts the compromise.  

-  Article  7.1,  concerning  the  non-cumulation  of  Community  financial  aid,  was  deleted. 
Although the Commission would have preferred that this paragraph had been maintained, it 
considers that the principle of non-cumulation is not affected.  

The Commission has produced a declaration on this issue which has been annexed to the PV 
of TTE December Council (see attached declaration).  

- Article 8 was slightly modified, in order to make clear that the work programmes only apply 
the  criteria  laid  down  in  the  guidelines  decisions  and  the  TEN-Regulation  and  do  not  add, 
amend  or  reduce  non-essential  elements  of  the  basic  act.  The  Commission  supports  the 
modifications.  

-  Article  9  was  changed  in  order  to  ensure  consultation  of  the  regulatory  committee  for  the 
Commission decision on the amount of financial aid to be granted to the projects or part of 
projects selected. The Commission can accept this consultation.  

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-  Article  15,  concerning  the  committee  that  is  to  be  consulted  for  certain  Commission 
decisions  –  for  example  concerning  the  work  programme  –  was  changed  in  order  to  have  a 
regulatory  instead  of  a  consultation  committee.  The  Commission  can  accept  a  regulatory 
committee, as was the case with Regulation 2236/95. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The  Commission  considers  that  the  Council’s  common  position  alters  neither  the  main  aim 
nor the spirit of its proposal and is therefore able to support it. It welcomes the fact that the 
common position reflects the state of the interinstitutional negotiations, paving the way for the 
adoption of this proposal in second reading.  

Annex: declaration on non-cumulation 

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Commission declaration on non-cumulation: 

"The question of cumulation of Community funding of various financing sources on the same 
project  has  been  a  constant  preoccupation  of  the  Commission.  The  Court  of  Auditors  has 
highlighted  this  issue  in  its  reports  on  the  implementation  by  the  Commission  of  the trans-
European networks 

In  the  context  of  operational  programmes  receiving  financial  assistance  from  the  Structural 
Funds  and/or  the  Cohesion  Fund,  Community  financial  instruments  other  than  those  Funds 
cannot provide a substitute for the required national co-funding 

Expenditure  within  a  project  that  is  part  of  an  operational  programme  receiving  financial 
assistance  from  the  Structural  Funds  and/or  the  Cohesion  Fund  cannot  benefit  from  other 
Community funding. It follows that when expenditure, for example for ERTMS equipment or 
electrification of a railway line, is not receiving financial assistance from the Structural Funds 
and/or the Cohesion Fund, it could benefit from TEN-funding. The actual construction of the 
railway line could be funded by the ERDF or the Cohesion Fund.  

Projects could also be divided in geographical sections, which could be co-financed either by 
ERDF/Cohesion Fund or TEN-funding.  

When  granting  TEN-subsidies,  the  Commission  will  therefore  check  whether  the  projects 
have not received funding from the Structural Funds or the Cohesion Fund. 

After  consultation  of  the  Court  of  Auditors,  the  Commission  will  also  issue  guidelines  to 
Member States on how the different funding instruments can be combined."  

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