Brussels, 04/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - European transport ministers have taken note of an initial list of infrastructure projects - worth €140 billion - corresponding to the priorities of the European Commission plan seeking to attract €315 billion in investments (see EUROPE 11205).
The Transport Council backed this investment plan in the conclusions on the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) that it adopted on Wednesday 3 December.
An interim report was presented to ministers on the projects that would best use the EIB's European Strategic Investment Fund. This report is headed by former European commissioner Henning Christophersen from Denmark and has been set up in cooperation with the EIB. It contains the different projects on the nine TEN-T corridors ready for implementation before 2013 and which could help bolster the European Strategic Investment Fund pipeline projects. It would reportedly involve focusing on airport projects (€2 billion - Helsinki, Kasteli,), railway links between airports and urban centres (€30 billion - Paris Charles de Gaule, Milan-Malpensa,), port capacity and connections (€13 billion - Amsterdam, Calais, Dublin and Cork, Koper, Barcelona, Venice, Milan), stretches of river (€17 billion - Kiel, Seine, Ghent, Albert Canal), logistical platform (€2.4 billion) and motorways (€63 billion - Rotterdam, Utrecht, Strasbourg, Bratislava, Brasov, sections in Italy, Poland and Germany). The report also recommends simplification of the rules on state aid, public contracts and awarding licences, as well as using the user-pays principle.
The conclusions adopted by ministers the same day welcome the presentation of the investment plan and underline the key role of transport infrastructure in creating jobs and economic growth - something that many ministers subsequently repeated during a debate. No mention was made of the flexibility the Commission is expected to display in applying the Stability and Growth Pact with regard to the direct national contributions to the European Strategic Investment Fund - an issue that the Italian Presidency of the Council regards as a priority. These conclusions will help towards the EUROPE 2020 Strategy mid-term review. (MD)