On Thursday 31 August, Herald Ruijters, the director for investment and sustainable and innovative transport at the European Commission’s DG MOVE, presented a report to MEPs at the transport committee. This report focused on the progress achieved in implementing the Trans-European Transport Networks in Europe (TEN-T).
The European Commission official made a brief presentation of the report the Commission published on 19 June last. This presentation was followed by a more lengthy period in which MEPs asked a number of questions. The report seeks to examine Trans-European transport network infrastructure compliance with the requirements contained in regulation 1315/2013, also known as the TEN-T regulation. Mr Ruijters welcomed the fact that “a certain percentage of success” had been accomplished and considered that the EU was “progressing rather well” since the entry into force of the text.
The TEN-T regulation aims to develop an intelligent and clean European transport system that promotes connectedness between European union territories. To this end, the text introduces quantitative and qualitative criteria for the different modes of transport in an effort to “complete the global network” by 2050.
Although he acknowledges that the data gathering has not been an easy task, Herald Ruijters confirmed that on the basis of the report, half of all the compliance indicators available were between 75 and 100% but that for the other half, the compliance result rate was below 75%. The report distinguishes between rail, inland waterways and road and air, in an effort to establish the compliance level of infrastructure with the previously mentioned criteria. In the report we learn, for example, that the level of railway infrastructure compliance is satisfactory with regard to electrification and track gauge but that train length compliance is still unsatisfactory. The airport to rail connection compliance level is also still below 75%.
Mr Ruijters also referred to the budget data presented in the report and the fact that in this regard, European Union resources allowed for an investment of € 30.67 billion to be made in TEN-T infrastructure in 2014 and 2015. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)