Brussels, 01/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - As indicated in yesterday's EUROPE (see p.5), the Commissioner for Regional Policy Michel Barnier signalled a decision by the Commission approving the operational programme "Accessibility and Transports" (POAT) aimed at Portugal. This programme, with a total cost of around EUR 3,369 million, with a contribution from the European Regional Development funds (ERDF) of 1,388 million, is "a fundamental piece" of the strategy put in place by the Community support framework for Portugal for the 2000-2006 period, asserts a Communiqué from the Commission. In fact, it corresponds to priority axis N°3 from this framework ("affirm the territorial value and the geo-economic position of Portugal").
The POAT centres around four axis, namely:
- integration of corridors in the European transport network. The programme notably foresees a multimodal corridor linking Portugal with Spain and the rest of Europe (this is a priority project for the Trans-European transport network) and road corridors linking the north and south of the country;
- improvement of the intermodal coordination thanks to the improvement of accessibility to ports and the accessibility between medium sized towns and between these towns and the main road network;
- development of regional rail connections, so as to reduce the use of the car in gaining access to towns;
- improvement of the quality and effectiveness of transport systems, notably in terms of security (development of a prevention system and the fight against accidents) and environmental protection (monitoring system on environmental effects).