Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the implementation of the trans-european transport network guidelines 2004 – 2005 pursuant to Article 18 of Decision 1692/96/EC {SEC(2009) 18}
Date: 2009-01-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: airport, harbour installation, maritime shipping, maritime transport, trans-European network, transport infrastructure

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 20.1.2009 
COM(2009) 5 final 

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

ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRANS-EUROPEAN TRANSPORT 
NETWORK GUIDELINES 2004 – 2005 

Pursuant to Article 18 of Decision 1692/96/EC 

{SEC(2009) 18} 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1 

2 

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

Policy context............................................................................................................... 3 

Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................... 6 

1.1 

1.2 

Implementation in general............................................................................................ 6 

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

1.2.1 

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

1.2.2 

TEN-T railway network ............................................................................................... 7 

1.2.3 

TEN-T inland waterways network ............................................................................... 7 

1.2.4 

TEN-T ports ................................................................................................................. 7 

1.2.5 

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

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

1.2.7 

Traffic management and navigation systems............................................................... 8 

Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................... 9 

2.1 

Horizontal Issues.......................................................................................................... 9 

2.1.1 

Interoperability............................................................................................................. 9 

2.1.2  Research and development........................................................................................... 9 

2.1.3 

Environmental protection............................................................................................. 9 

Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................. 10 

3.1 

3.2 

3.3 

General assessment of ten-t implementation in the 2004 – 2005 period ................... 10 

Priority Projects.......................................................................................................... 11 

Sources of funding ..................................................................................................... 12 

3.3.1 

TEN-T budget ............................................................................................................ 12 

3.3.2 

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) ....................................................... 12 

3.3. 

Cohesion Fund ........................................................................................................... 13 

3.3.4 

European Investment Bank loans............................................................................... 13 

General assessment of funding sources.................................................................................... 13 

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 14 

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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 

ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRANS-EUROPEAN TRANSPORT 
NETWORK GUIDELINES 2004 – 2005 

Pursuant to Article 18 of Decision 1692/96/EC 

1 

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/EC.  These 
guidelines  constitute  a  general  reference  framework  for  the  implementation  of  the  network 
and identify projects of common interest. The transport modes covered by 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 2004 to the end of 2005.  The investment data it 
contains refer to the EU-151, the EU-252 as of 1 May 2004 and the EU-273 as from 1 January 
2007. 

2 

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 constitute the general reference framework for the implementation of 
the network and the identification of projects of common interest. The European Council in 
Essen in 1994 attached 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  on  the  roads  and  the  growing 
external costs of transport, it advocated greater emphasis by the Common Transport Policy on 
modal shift as a way towards sustainability.  

In  general,  passenger  transport  is  not  growing  as  quickly  as  GDP,  while  goods  transport  is 
growing more than GDP. Overall, road transport is growing at approximately the same rate as 
GDP,  as  are  sea  transport  and  air  transport.  This  shows  the  unbalanced  nature  of  transport 
growth and the progressive marginalisation of railways, particularly for freight traffic. 

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Austria,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Ireland,  Italy,  Luxemburg, 
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom. 
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. 
EU-25 plus Bulgaria and Romania. 

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Passengers, Goods, GDP 
 1995-2006  

0
0
1
=
5
9
9
1

140

135

130

125

120

115

110

105

100

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Passengers (1) (pkm)

Goods (2) (tkm)

GDP (at constant 1995 prices)

Figure 1: Transport demand versus growth of GDP from 1995 to 2006 in the EU 254. 
On 22 May 2001, Decision No 1346/2001/EC5 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  responding  to 
recent developments.  

In  October  2001  the  Commission  proposed  an  amendment  to  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 a 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 EU-27 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  proposal 
identified 30 priority projects of considerable importance for international traffic. The priority 
projects also included projects in the new Member States.  

In April 2004 the European Parliament and the Council adopted the revised guidelines with 
Decision  No  884/2004/EC6,  amending  Decision  No  1692/96/EC.  The  amended  guidelines 
give  greater  priority  to  key  projects  and  concentrate  scarce  funds  on  projects  of  European 
interest — such as cross-border sections and natural barriers — and have a time horizon for 
completion by 2020.  

Further  to  the  general  objective  of  ensuring  the  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 countries.  

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6 

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, OJ L201, 07/06/2004. 

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IMPLEMENTATION 

The funds allocated to TEN-T implementation in 2004 and 2005 were analysed for this report, 
by project and by Member State, with a special focus on priority projects.  

The  total  investment  in  the  TEN-T  network  in  the  EU-27  over  the  two-year  period  2004  – 
2005 was approximately EUR 101.74 billion. 

A  general  assessment  of  the  sources  of  TEN-T  investment  during  2004–05  shows  that 
national  public  funding  contributed  about  76.9%,  by  far  the  largest  part,  and  together  with 
loans from EIB accounted for more than 91%.  

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Chapter 1 

1.1 

IMPLEMENTATION IN GENERAL  

Total investment in the TEN-T network in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 50.4 billion in 2004 
and EUR 51.3 billion in 2005.  

In terms of modes, investment in the 2004 – 2005 period focused on railways (57%), followed 
by  roads  (27%),  airports  (9%),  ports  (5%)  and  inland  waterways  (2%).  This  distribution 
shows an increase in rail investment compared to 1996 – 2003.  

Airports
9%

IWW
2%

Ports
5%

Road
27%

Rail
57%

Figure 2: Investment per mode in 2004 and 2005  

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  roads.  The  length  of  the  TEN-T  road  network  in  the  EU-27  in  terms  of  roads 
existing, planned or to be upgraded in 2005 was approx. 98 500 km.  

The total length of the TEN-T roads comprising motorways and high-quality roads in the EU-
27  in  2005  was  approx.  70 200  km.  The  remaining  roads  are  still  to  be  constructed  or 
upgraded  to  meet  the  general  target  of  the  Guidelines.  In  2005  some  28 300  km  of  existing 
roads were still classified as ordinary roads. 

Total investment in the TEN-T road network in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 12.70 billion in 
2004 and EUR 14.55 billion in 2005 (a total of EUR 27.26 billion in the 2004 – 2005 period). 
Compared  with  investment  in  previous  years,  the  average  annual  amount  invested  in  roads 
remained at the same level over the 2004 – 2005 period.  

The total length of motorways and high-quality roads that entered into operation in 2004–05 
was 1442 km. 

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1.2.2 

TEN-T railway network 

In  2005  the  TEN-T  railway  network  —  conventional  and  high-speed  lines  —  had  a  total 
length of about 97 600 km. The total length of completed high-speed lines, new and upgraded, 
increased to 10 677 km in 2005. 

Total investment in the TEN-T railway network in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 30.22 billion 
in  2004  and  EUR  28.36  billion  in  2005  (a  total  of  EUR  58.58  billion  in  the  2004  –  2005 
period). Compared with investment in previous years, the average annual amount invested in 
railways increased significantly in the 2004 – 2005 period. 

The total length of high-speed rail lines that entered into operation in 2004–05 was 460 km.  

1.2.3 

TEN-T inland waterways network 

The  TEN-T  inland  waterways  consist  of  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 barges of 80 – 85 metres long and 9.50 metres wide.  

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

The total length of TEN-T inland waterways in the EU-27 was 14 100 km in 2005. The main 
axes within the network are the Rhine and the Danube. 

Total  investment  in  the  TEN-T  inland  waterways  network  in  the  EU-27  amounted  to  EUR 
1044 million in 2004 and EUR 1029 million in 2005 (a total of EUR 2 074 million in the 2004 
– 2005 period).  

TEN-T ports 

1.2.4 
Decision No  1346/2001/EC7, 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 
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. 

The TEN-T ports comprise 407 ports (category A seaports and inland ports).  

Total  investment  in  TEN-T  ports  in  the  EU-27  amounted  to  EUR  2.08  billion  in  2004  and 
EUR 2.53 billion in 2005 (a total of EUR 4.61 billion in the 2004 – 2005 period).  

1.2.5 

TEN-T airports 

The  TEN-T  airports  comprised  407  airports,  including  71  international,  77  community  and 
259 regional airports, in 2005.  

The total investment in TEN-T airports in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 4.37 billion in 2004 
and EUR 4.83 billion in 2005 (a total of EUR 9.21 billion in the 2004 – 2005 period).  

1.2.6  Combined transport network 

The  trans-European  combined  transport  network  comprises  railways  and  inland  waterways 
suitable  for  combined  transport  and  shipping  allowing  the  long-distance  transport  of  goods, 
and  intermodal  terminals  equipped  with  installations  permitting  transhipment  between 

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Op cit: 6. 

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railways, inland waterways, shipping routes and roads. Suitable rolling stock is also included. 
The inclusion of combined transport in the guidelines is intended 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. 

Several  regions  in  Europe  have  co-ordinated  their  ITS  plans  in  the  Euro-regional  projects 
CENTRICO, ARTS, CORVETTE, STREETWISE, VIKING and SERTI since the start of the 
Multi-Annual  Indicative  Programme  in  2001.  In  May  2004  a  new  Euro-regional  project, 
CONNECT (Co-ordination and stimulation of innovative ITS activities in Central and Eastern 
European  countries)  has  been  started  up.  CONNECT  is  a  co-operation  between  public 
authorities,  road  administrations  and  traffic  information  service  providers  from  Central  and 
Eastern  European  (CEE)  countries.  Partners  from  Austria,  Czech  Republic,  Germany, 
Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are working together to improve cross-border 
traffic and transport through implementing harmonised and synchronised ITS applications on 
the high level road network in this area.  

A Directive (2004/52) on the interoperability of electronic fee collection has been adopted by 
the European Parliament and the Council. This Directive will be of paramount importance to 
the interoperability and service continuity on the Trans-European Road Network (TERN). 

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Chapter 2 

2.1 

HORIZONTAL ISSUES 

2.1.1 

Interoperability 

One  of  the  main  objectives  of  TEN-T  is  the  interoperability  of  national  networks. 
Interoperability  should  cover  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  adjust  for 
technical  differences,  significantly  enhances  transport  performance  and  reduces  operational 
costs.  The  EU  adopted  in  2004  the  "second  railway  package",  consisting  of  two  Directives, 
2004/49 and 2004/50, and the Regulation 881/2004 creating the European Railway Agency. 

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 
were  launched  under  specific  individual  programmes,  such  as  sustainable  mobility  and 
intermodality, land transport and marine technologies, efficient energy systems, and services 
for the citizen. 

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 
impacts 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.  

Article 8 of the 1692/96 Guidelines states that ‘when projects are developed and carried out, 
environmental protection must be taken into account by the Member States through execution 
of  environmental  impact  assessments  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’. 

Legal provisions on strategic environmental assessment (SEA) were established 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 that provide for future projects requiring an environmental 
impact  assessment  (EIA),  including  those  relating  to  the  trans-European  networks.  Member 
States  are  required  to  take  the  results  of  this  environmental  assessment  into  account  in  the 
preparation of these plans and programmes.  

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Chapter 3 

3.1 

GENERAL  ASSESSMENT  OF  TEN-T  IMPLEMENTATION  IN  THE  2004  – 
2005 PERIOD 

Total investment in the TEN-T network in the EU-27 amounted to EUR 101.74 billion in the 
2004 – 2005 period.  

Most of this amount went on the railways (about EUR 58.6 billion), followed by roads (about 
EUR 27.2 billion) and airports (about EUR 9.2 billion). 

100,00

90,00

80,00

70,00

60,00

50,00

40,00

30,00

20,00

10,00

0,00

RAILWAY

ROAD

AIRPORT

PORT

IWW

2002-2003

2004-2005

Figure 3: 
2002 – 2003 in EUR billion 

Investment in the TEN-T network in the EU-27 in 2004 and 2005 compared with investment in 

The countries with the highest investment in the 2004 – 2005 period were Italy (EUR 17.89 
billion),  the  UK  (EUR  17.17  billion),  Spain  (EUR  13.91  billion),  Germany  (EUR  10.47 
billion), France (EUR 9.10 billion) and the Netherlands (EUR 6.58 billion). 

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18.000

16.000

14.000

12.000

10.000

8.000

6.000

4.000

2.000

0

IT

UK

ES

DE

FR

NL

AT

EL

PT

BE

PL

SE

CZ

HU

Road

Railway

IWW

Airport

Port

Figure 4: 
most in the EU-27 in 2004 and 2005, in EUR million  

Investment  in  the  TEN-T  network  per  country  and  mode  for  the  first  14  countries  investing 

1.200

1.000

800

600

400

200

0

FI

IE

SI

DK

RO

EE

LV

LT

BG

SK

LU

CY

MT

Road

Railway

IWW

Airport

Port

Figure 5: 
27 in 2004 and 2005, in EUR million  

Investment in the TEN-T network per country and mode for the remaining countries of the EU-

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  to  which  they  help  in  shifting  long-distance  traffic  flows  to  environmentally 
friendly modes of transport.  

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The  1996  guidelines8  included  14  priority  projects  to  be  completed  by  2010.  On  29  April 
2004 the European Parliament and the Council adopted revised guidelines9, which include 30 
priority projects to be completed by 2020. 

Three priority projects have already been completed since 2001: 

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 – 2000. 

The investment in the priority sections of the priority projects up to the end of 2005 amounted 
to EUR 108.1 billion. The remaining investment in these projects in the 2006 – 2020 period 
will  be  about  EUR  289.1  billion.  The  total  cost  of  the  priority  projects,  as  notified  by  the 
Member States in 2008, is EUR 397.2 billion for the entire 1996 – 2020 period.  

Provided that the Member States focus in future on investing in the priority projects, most of 
the projects could be completed before 2020. 

3.3 

SOURCES OF FUNDING 

In addition to national funding (by public authorities), a certain proportion of the investment 
in  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), 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, port and road sectors, receive funding from the private sector. 

3.3.1 

TEN-T budget 

In  the  2004  –  2005  period,  a  total  amount  of  EUR  1.36  billion  was  funded  by  the  TEN-T 
budget. In line with the TEN-T guidelines, the majority of funding was allocated to railways, 
accounting  for  61.3%  of  total  TEN-T  support  in  this  period.  In  addition,  the  importance  of 
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) was underlined again in the 2004 – 2005 period. 
A total amount of about EUR 250 million (18.4%) was allocated to Galileo. 

3.3.2  European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 

The EU budget for 2004 was the first with 25 Member States (EU-25). The accession of ten 
new  Member  States  (EU-10)  in  May  2004  resulted  in  additional  budget  needs,  which  were 
covered by means of amending budgets.  

For  payment  appropriations  under  the  Structural  Funds,  the  year  2004  marked  an  absolute 
peak, due mainly to good progress with EU-15 programmes but also to payments for the new 
EU-10 states. 

The year 2005 was devoted to bringing the ‘programming period 2000 – 2006’ to a successful 
end and to preparing the new ‘Cohesion Policy Programmes for 2007 – 2013’. 

Under  the  ERDF,  more  than  EUR  8.8  billion  was  spent  mostly  on  TEN-T  projects  in  the 
period 2000 – 2006. 

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Op cit: 7. 

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3.3. 

Cohesion Fund  

On  1  May  2004,  all  of  the  8  new  Member  States  formerly  benefiting  from  the  ISPA 
programme  —  together  with  Malta  and  Cyprus  —  met  the  criteria  for  Cohesion  Fund 
eligibility. The projects previously under the ISPA programme were automatically transferred 
to the Cohesion Fund. 

For  structural  assistance  in  the  10  new  countries  (for  the  years  2004  –  2006),  an  overall 
budget of EUR 24 billion was earmarked, from which EUR 8.5 billion was set aside for the 
Cohesion Fund. 

The Cohesion Fund resources available for commitment were EUR 5.62 billion in 2004 and 
EUR 5.13 billion in 2005 for the 13 beneficiary Member States.  

In  2004,  the  transport  sector  accounted  for  marginally  over  half  (51,8%)  of  total  Cohesion 
Fund commitments and for a fraction less than half (49,8%) in 2005.As in the past, in order to 
improve  the  total  balance,  the  Commission  asked  the  Member  States  to  give  particular 
preference to rail projects. 

3.3.4  European Investment Bank loans  

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

A key aspect of EIB loans is that they can cover up to 50% of the project costs, while another 
advantage compared with commercial banks is that they have a longer term. Moreover, EIB 
loans  are  provided  without  the  need  for  project-specific  premiums,  as  the  EIB  requires  that 
loans are backed by guarantee.  

EIB loans in 2004 and 2005 amounted to nearly EUR 13.75 billion, while the EIB has about 
EUR 75 billion available to lend to TEN-T projects for the 2004 – 2013 period. 

For the period 2007–13, the EIB has set up the new JASPERS instrument (Joint Assistance to 
Support Projects in European Regions) in conjunction with the EC and the EBRD to help the 
new  Member  States  in  particular  to  prepare  major  infrastructure  projects  needing  funding 
form the Cohesion Fund, the Structural Fund and the EIB.  

General assessment of funding sources 

It can be concluded that investment in the TEN-T is funded by a variety of sources, including 
national  funds,  various  different  European  Community  funding  programmes  and  loans.  A 
general  assessment  of  the  sources  of  TEN-T  investment  shows  that  national  public  funding 
contributed  almost  78%,  by  far  the  largest  share,  in  the  2004  –  2005  period.  The  second 
largest share, at approximately 13.5%, comprised loans from the European Investment Bank. 
Together, these sources contributed more than 90% of the investment in the TEN-T. 

Although the exact amount of private funding is difficult to determine (due to the fact that it is 
difficult  to  obtain  investment  data  for  infrastructure  in  private  hands  such  as  ports  and 
airports),  it  is  estimated  to  represent  only  a  minor  part.  As  a  consequence,  national  public 
funding is still the main source of finance for TEN-T related projects. 

Source of funding  

2004 

2005 

2004–05 

in % 

TEN-T budget 

526.52

564.38

1090.9 

1.1% 

Cohesion Fund (incl. ISPA) 

1611.84

1459.77

3071.61 

3.0% 

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EIB 

EBRD 

6374

7371

13745 

13.5% 

197.3

176.2

373.5 

0.4% 

ERDF (estimated) 

2045.9

1855.6

3901.5 

3.8% 

National  budget  &  private 
sources 

39669.39

39889.34

79558.73 

78.2% 

Total 

50424.05 

51316.29 

101770.2 

100.0% 

Table Error! No text of specified style in document.-1: Distribution of TEN-T funding sources in € million for 
EU-27 

CONCLUSION 

The  total  investment  in  the  TEN-T  network  in  the  EU-27  over  the  two-year  period  2004  – 
2005 shows an increase in average annual investment in the TEN-T network compared with 
the  previous  period  2000  to  2003,  with  average  spending  already  reaching  about  EUR  51 
billion, a figure significantly higher than in previous years. 

Moreover,  average  total  investment  as  a  percentage  of  GDP  in  the  EU-27  increased  from 
0.43% in 2002–03 to 0.47% in 2004–05. 

One of the reasons is certainly the increase in grants due to the fact that the 10 new Member 
States were eligible for this funding from 1 May 2004. 

However, a more detailed analysis of the investment shows that in some countries, especially 
in the EU-15 (Denmark, France, Germany), the total investment as a percentage of GDP was 
well below the EU average.  

Concerning financing, it can be concluded that national public funding still contributed by far 
the  largest  part  of  the  investment  in  the  TEN-T  network.  In  order  to  concentrate  the  scarce 
Community  funds  and  to  facilitate  the  coordinated  implementation  of  certain  projects,  in 
particular cross-border projects, the Commission has designated ‘European Coordinators’, in 
agreement  with  the  Member  States  concerned  and  after  having  consulted  the  European 
Parliament. The European Coordinators act in the name of and on behalf of the Commission 
and should speed up the implementation of the projects of common interest.  

The  completion  of  the  30  priority  projects  for  international  traffic  by  2020  is  in  general  on 
track. With an annual investment volume of about EUR 50 billion, transport infrastructure can 
be  improved  significantly;  nevertheless,  the  elimination  of  cross-border  bottlenecks  in 
particular is still lagging behind and needs to be improved. 

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