Brussels, 24/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said in a debate with members of the European Parliament's transport and tourism (TRAN) committee late in the afternoon of Monday 23 May that she was persuaded of the financial potential for the transport sector of “blending” various European subsidies, such as the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), with the instruments of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
In the commissioner's view, this would be “a smooth bridging between the new and old worlds”, generate investment of €40 billion in transport and thereby secure close to 500,000 temporary or permanent jobs in the coming years. By way of examples, she cited the ports of Dublin and Calais which have already benefited from blending of this sort. Slovakia, too, is expected shortly to benefit. In June of last year, the Commission concluded a first call for offers worth €28.3 billion under the CEF (see EUROPE 11346) and a second call for offers is underway (see EUROPE 11492) and should be concluded by June of this year.
For this reason, Bulc believes that, within the framework of the revision of the multiannual financial framework, the CEF budget has to be used in the first instance to support the blending approach. She announced, therefore, that during the TEN-T (trans-European transport network) Days in Rotterdam from 20 to 22 June a first ever dedicated investors conference will be held and a “Rotterdam Declaration” adopted to develop synergy between the TEN-T, the CEF and the EFSI.
Rail investment flagging. Investment in the transport sector, and in particular in the rail sector, is a matter of fundamental importance for the EU. A report on rail freight adopted by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on Tuesday 24 May notes, however, that increasingly European funding is being directed to the road sector and away from the railways, progressively distancing the EU from its goals of inter-modality in transport.
ESI Funds and EFSI. “Blending” also affects cohesion policy: the regional policy commissioner also believes that blending the European structural and investment funds and the EFSI is a way to create new synergies and brought forward guidelines for this purpose in February (see EUROPE 11496). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)