Luxembourg, 10/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission and the Irish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers have confirmed that an inter-institution agreement on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is imminent.
Irish Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar and European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas made the announcement at the presentation of a progress report on the CEF at the beginning of the Transport Council in Luxembourg on Monday 10 June. European ministers used this occasion to develop their most recent recommendations.
Varadkar stated that there had been “an agreement on quite a few points”, especially in the field of energy, and that it should be possible to complete negotiations on the provisions relating to financial instruments and VAT eligibility. Telecommunications, the scope of application and delegated acts appear to be producing more problems, however. In transport, Siim Kallas said that he was “particularly satisfied with the progress made”. The Irish minister explained that the request made by the European Parliament to introduce a flexibility clause so that money that had not been spent could be used in other areas, still needed to be discussed.
The French and Italian delegations supported the connection facility, and also the innovative financial instruments, such as project bonds. Frédéric Cuvillier, the French minister, noted that “the leverage effect of this new instrument is a solid complement to more customary public funding and is entirely compatible with the pact for growth and employment”. Italy underlined the importance of modal nodes. The German delegation pointed out that the goods transport corridors were not expected to be harmonised with the new approaches applying to the Trans-European Transport Network (RTE-T) corridors. Denmark also mentioned the importance of including the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in the CEF. (MD/transl.fl)