Not surprisingly, the Transport Ministers of the Member States of the European Union adopted a political agreement (‘general approach’) on the completion of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) on Monday 2 December at the Transport Council.
The Member States almost unanimously welcomed the flexibility provided for in this agreement, in particular the fact that, according to the EU Council’s position, it would be a directive and not a regulation, as initially proposed by the European Commission (see EUROPE 12022/11). States consider that this change in the legal nature of the text would allow them to take advantage of the national procedures for granting authorisations for TEN-T projects currently in place.
For its part, the European Parliament adopted its position at first reading on 13 February 2019 (see EUROPE 12193/9). Unlike Member States, MEPs support the idea of a regulation, which could be a problem in future interinstitutional negotiations (‘trilogues’).
In addition, while the Commission suggested that the maximum period for the entire authorisation procedure should not exceed 3 years, the position adopted by the EU Council extends this period to 4 years.
The Commission’s initial proposal aims to facilitate the completion of the TEN-T by speeding up the procedures for granting authorisations for TEN-T projects and clarifying the procedures that project promoters must apply for granting authorisations and awarding public contracts. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)