Strasbourg, 03/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Transport Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, said that the trans-European networks were the backbone of the single market, when she presented the European Parliament with the review of the networks that the Commission had published on Tuesday (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.11), noting that this would be the first unified network since the Roman era.
The Commissioner stressed that over EUR 66 billion would be required to finance the new infrastructure projects, through national, regional, public and private investment. Queried by German EPP MEP Georg Jarzmbovski about the means of finance available, she noted that the new guidelines for the trans-European networks would make it possible for the EU to fund up to 10 or 20% of this investment. This was, however, the ceiling and a "possibility, which does not meant that it will be granted systematically", she pointed out in reply to a question by the Spanish Socialist Juan Izquierdo Callado. Ms de Palacio also observed that the Commission would soon be unveiling a review of the Euro Toll-disc Directive and new infrastructure charging principles, in line with the White Paper on Transport Policy until 2010 (adopted on 12 September 2001). These new principles follow the idea behind the Swiss model of tolls, the revenue from which would go to a fund for exceptional infrastructure, like the Brenner Tunnel, explained the Commissioner.
Asked by Paul Rübig (EPP-ED, Austria) and Theodorus Bouwman (Green, the Netherlands) in particular about the geographical scope of the networks and how they would be integrated into the candidate countries' transport networks, Ms de Palacio mentioned that the guidelines only covered the period up to 2004 so new priorities would be outlined after this date to deal with the needs of candidate countries. She did, however, underline that the eight new projects proposed by the Commission (see EUROPE of 1/2 October, p.7), covered both East-West and North-South routes. She particularly emphasised the high speed rail project between Paris, Stuttgart and Vienna which would later be extended to Budapest, and the river route linking the North Sea to the Black Sea by means of the Rhine and the Danube. She pointed out that there was a small project covering motorway links between Austria and Bratislava.
The Commissioner spent some time on the ideas expressed by Alain Savary (PES, France), who stressed the difficulties encountered in crossing the Pyrenees, which received less media coverage than problems crossing the Alps but were even more serious. She indicated that infrastructure was required to cope with at least 100 million tonnes of additional freight traffic and acknowledged that they had to start working on projects to cut a rail line through the middle of the Pyrenees. Ms de Palacio stressed that the biggest amount of funding for the new projects (EUR 26.6 billion) was being awarded to harmonisation of the gauge of high speed railtrack between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe.