Brussels, 22/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The transport ministers of 12 member states, business leaders and players in the transport sector are meeting in Riga on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 June for the TEN-T Days. They will be focusing on the technical obstacles hindering the proper development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) and are expected to move forward on the corridors of the Baltic region in the Balkans.
“We now need to join forces to make the trans-European transport network a reality. Our progress will depend on the implementation of the work plans, particularly as regards the principal cross-border projects”, said the Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc.
The ministers of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are expected to sign a declaration following the event on Rail Baltica, in the framework of the corridor of the central network “North Sea - Baltic Sea”. “The line is an excellent example of this kind of infrastructure. It will not only allow the major Baltic cities to be served by a line which complies with European track gauge standards, paving the way for new mobility solutions for the transport of passengers and of freight, but it will also symbolically reconnect the whole of the Baltic Sea region to the heart of Europe”, said the Latvian transport minister, Anrijs Matiss.
Bulc and the ministers are also expected to give their blessing to the extension of the central network and corridors within the countries of the Western Balkans. The Commission is also planning to present a study carried out by the Fraunhofer Institut für System und Innovationsforschung (ISI) on the corridors of the central network, which forecasts that investing in the transport infrastructures would bring up to a 1.8% increase in growth of GDP and would generate nearly 10 million jobs in Europe by 2030. Another study to be presented by the former Vice-President of the Commission, Henning Christophersen, will propose an action plan for a better use of European financial mechanisms. “I am counting on all players, national and regional, public and private, to make the best use of the instruments at our disposal, such as the Connecting Europe Facility and the new European Fund for Strategic Investments. With regard to this, the recommendations of the Christophersen, Bodewig and Secchi report are crucial”, the Slovenian minister commented.
On 10 July, the coordination committee of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) will adopt projects to be funded in the framework of the calls for projects of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which has a budget of €11.9 billion for the period 2014-2020. (Pascal Hansens)