Brussels, 22/08/2003 (Agence Europe) - The proposal of decision to review the Community guidelines for trans-European transport networks (TEN-T) with a view to the forthcoming EU enlargement will be examined by the different European Commission services as of next Wednesday. The proposal, to be presented during the autumn, should take up the broad lines of the content of the report on trans-European transport networks by the High Level Group headed by Karel Van Miert and responsible for selecting a series of "priority" projects eligible for Community funding in order to develop the TEN-T (EUROPE of 1 July, p.7).
The choice of projects selected by the Van Miert Group, which is only in principle an opinion on which the Commission will base its proposal, is far from reaching unanimity. EUROPE recalls that Belgium and Luxembourg voted against the report after the "Eurocap-rail" project was rejected (the aim of which was to create a high quality rail link between Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg) as the priority project by the Van Miert Group. However, although they did not have approval from the Group, the two countries boasted on several occasions of the support received from Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio for the Eurocap-rail project, and seem convinced that the project will finally be included in the Commission proposal (EUROPE of 24 June, p.8, and 8 July, p.7). The building of a bridge over the Messina Straits linking Sicily to the rest of Europe, a project selected by the Van Miert Group, caused a great deal of scepticism, mainly from Italian Deputy Giovanni Fava (PES), who had described the project as taking "doubtful priority" (EUROPE of 9 July, p.12). Finally, more recently, five non-governmental organisations have warned the European Commission about the environmental impact that the development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) could have in candidate countries (EUROPE of 21 August, p.5).