Brussels, 03/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - The informal meeting of transport ministers, to be held in Naples on 4 and 5 July, will be entirely devoted to trans-European transport networks (TETNs), one of the priorities of the Italian Presidency. A debate is therefore to be organised on TETN infrastructures, and their implementation and funding, based on a questionnaire sent to the national delegations, the results of which will be given to October's Transport Council.
The Italian Presidency believes that strengthening TETN infrastructures is of paramount importance, not only to ensure the sustainable and harmonised economic and social development of the EU, but also to integrate the future Member States politically and territorially. New momentum must be given to developing the TETNs, taking account of both decentered areas (remote and island regions), and the possibilities opened up by the EU's new geopolitical framework.
Referring to the recent report by the Van Miert group (EUROPE of 1 July, p.7), and to the European Commission's communication on the financial aspects of developing the TETNs (EUROPE of 23 April, p.10), the Presidency insisted that this should become a reality within a clearly-defined time-scale, with specific financial resources and joint methodologies and procedures. This is why it hopes that the Naples meeting will be the "starting point" to define a "joint platform" for methods and instruments to be developed by the Member States to be able to put adequate infrastructures for TETNs into place. To this end, delegations are to make their contribution, by answering several questions, such as:
- the appropriate time-scale to achieve the infrastructure objectives;
- the importance of considering TETNs as a project of joint interest to the whole of the EU, in order to go beyond purely national interests;
- the new instruments to be used to make access to financial resources easier (such as the possibility of creating an ad hoc agency at European level);
- the conditions under which cross-financing could be permitted;
- the conditions under which certain environmental and natural obstacles to the circulation of goods and persons could be considered as creating competition distortion on the internal market;
- the possibility of taking into account political and social parameters and well as economic ones, to allow certain infrastructures to be considered strategic;
- the pros and cons, in terms of cost and time, of setting up a body to monitor the development and implementation of common interest projects, to be appointed by the Commission;
- the possibility of considering the Mediterranean region as a major "basin", offering Europe commercial opportunities in the north African and Middle Eastern markets.