Resolution reached on trans-European transport networks

Date: 20/12/2012

A set of new rules has been decided upon by the Committee on Transport and Tourism in order to govern the (CEF) Connecting Europe Facility across the (EU) European Union.

These guidelines will help to establish funding for infrastructure projects which affect more than one member state with regards to transport, energy and telecoms.

Projects will be chosen on an annual basis with three-fifths of CEF funding going towards trans-European transport networks.

It is hoped that this investment will see improvements in terms of competitiveness, reducing the carbon footprint and providing a boost to the single market.

This will be achieved by making a number of different forms of transport more able to operate with each other and across borders.

A map of ten new corridors has been established and mature national projects which are part of the core network will have to compete with new infrastructure.

Missing links within networks should therefore be bridged and bottlenecks removed, allowing people and products to travel more freely.

A further €10 billion (£8.13 billion) is to be transferred from the EU's Cohesion Fund to go towards transport solutions.

Up until December 2016 projects using money from the fund will need to meet requirements based on national criteria, but as of January 2017 special CEF criteria will be in force.

In the long run no member state should be isolated with common interest projects given increased support for better integration.

Georgios Koumoutsakos, Greek Member of the European Parliament, said: "This is the project of the European transport policy, as it will benefit every single European citizen, be it for trade, work, tourism or environmental reasons.

"This project will enable us to turn a patchwork of national transport networks into an integrated EU network by 2030."

The European Parliament will now take the rules which have been established to the European Council to find a first reading agreement.

Posted by Nick Anderson

International Transport News and Sustainable Transport News