Tallinn, 16/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has announced that almost 200 transport projects will benefit from €1.6 billion in EU co-financing from the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) this year. This announcement was made on Wednesday 16 October and comes just at the right time, during the TEN-T Days in Tallinn, at which some of the funding decisions will be communicated to the European transport ministers affected (see EUROPE 109432). Projects to be co-financed include the ports of Antwerp, Hamburg, Rouen, Barcelona, and Gdansk, as well as studies being carried out in Estonia and Latvia concerning the rail connection between Helsinki and Warsaw by way of the capital cities in the Baltic states (Rail Baltica).
The European Commission has selected a total of 172 projects that will benefit from almost €1.6 billion. On one hand there are: 89 projects selected from the 2012 Multi-Annual Call with €1.348 billion of funding to projects financing the highest priorities of the TEN-T network, focusing on six modal areas. These projects include: Motorways of the Sea (MoS) - 13 projects selected, €169.37 million in funding; European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) - 14 projects selected, €68.33 million in funding; Air Traffic Management (ATM) - 3 projects selected, €58.8 million in funding; Intelligent Transport Systems/European Electronic Toll System (ITS/EETS) - 2 projects selected, €3.58 million in funding; Priority Projects (PPs) - 53 selected, €1.044 billion in funding.
In addition to these projects are the 83 projects from the 2012 Annual Programme Call, which received €247.20 million in total funding in four main priority areas: Priority 1 - Acceleration/facilitation of the implementation of TEN-T projects - 67 projects selected, €211.36 million in funding; measures to promote innovation and new technologies for transport infrastructure - 6 projects selected, €13.74 million in funding; support to Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and innovative financial instruments: 3 projects selected, €5.75 million in funding and the long term implementation of the TEN-T, in particular corridors - 7 projects selected, €16.35 million in funding. Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas said that, “these projects will also assist Europe in moving to a more sustainable future and allow the same market access to all our regions”. (MD/transl.fl)