Brussels, 15/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - As previously announced, the European Commission announced three proposed regulations on Wednesday to increase the financial resources of the transport sector for the period 2007-2013. It proposes to increase the budget to develop trans-European networks (TENs) to 20.69 billion EUR, compared to 4.6 billion for the period 2000-2006. In order to promote freight transport by means other than road haulage, it has proposed a "Marco Polo II" programme, extending the Marco Polo programme until 2013, and with a budgetary envelope of 740 million EUR, compared to 75 million EUR for the period 2003-2006 allocated to the previous programme. Lastly, the Commission plans a budget of 1 billion EUR for Galileo.
Proposed regulation on the granting of Community financial assistance to the trans-European networks (TENs) and modifying the regulation 2236/95: the completion of the transport TEN (TTEN), as approved on 29 April by the Council and European Parliament in the decision revising the Community guidelines for the TENs, will require 600 billion EUR between now and 2020. The investments needed to achieve the 30 priority projects chosen, to be completed by 2020, will reach 225 billion EUR. For this reason, the Commission proposes increasing the budget for the development of the TTENs to 20.350 billion EUR. In the energy sector, the sum needed for the priority projects of the TTENs has been put at 28 billion EUR. The Commission proposes a budget of 340 million EUR, 49 million EUR a year compared to 22 million currently. The Commission also proposes a considerable increase in the proportion of Community funding in the total cost of the projects, which cannot currently exceed 20% under regulation 807/2004. Under the proposal, Community aid may reach: 1) 50% of the total eligible cost of studies; 2) 30% of the total eligible cost of work on priority projects for the TTENs, and, exceptionally, 50% for the cross-border sections of these projects, as long as they are launched before 2010. For the other projects, this aid will not exceed 15% but can, exceptionally, cover 50% for projects based around interoperability, notably; 3) 20% of the total eligible cost of work of the priority TTEN projects and 10% for other projects. In its proposal, the Commission lays down conditions of eligibility (respect for Community policies, particularly environmental ones) and details for the implementation of the Community financial aid to pay for projects of common interest. In the field of transport, particular attention will be given to projects for which the Member States concerned have committed to make a financial contribution. In the field of energy, aid will be focused on projects contributing to network continuity, the security of energy supply, the connection of renewable energy sources. The proposal allows the Commission, which is responsible for the implementation of the regulation, to cancel financial aid in case of delays in the projects, or to ask for aid to be reimbursed if the project has not been completed within the stated time. It also provides for the Commission to write a report every three years on the activities carried out in the framework of the regulation, to be submitted to the Parliament and the Council, and a clause for the revision of actions planned under the regulation.
Proposed regulation establishing the second Marco Polo programme to grant Community financial assistance to improve the environmental efficiency of goods transport: like its predecessor, the "Marco Polo II" programme will help companies only, and will go to pay for projects ("actions") to promote the transfer of freight transport for the road to greener means of transport. In addition to the three types of action funded by the previous programme (catalyst actions, modal transfer and a shared learning experience), "Marco Polo II" will fund two additional types of action: projects in favour of sea motorways and to reduce traffic ("traffic reduction actions"). It will also be open to the participation of third countries such as candidates for accession to the EU, the member countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the European Economic Area (EEA) and the countries of the EU's neighbourhood policy. The financial and eligibility conditions for the projects, for which Community financial assistance will vary between 35% and 50% of the total, are laid down in the annexes to the proposal. The granting of this Community funding does not rule out the possibility to benefit from State aid, as long as this is compatible with Community provisions, and that the total aid received does not exceed 50% of the eligible costs, states the proposal. The Commission, which has based the proposal on the results of an independent study, believes that "Marco Polo II" will save 5 billion EUR in avoided environmental damage, the reduction of accidents, energy consumption, damage to infrastructure.
Proposed regulation on implementation of deployment and operational phases of the European satellite radio-navigation programme Galileo: the Commission proposes 1 billion EUR to add to the private funding necessary to develop the system, to be divided up as follows: - 500 million EUR for the deployment phase of the system, covering the years 2006-2007 with the construction and launch of satellites and the full implementation of the ground part of the infrastructure, put at 2.1 billion EUR; -500 million EUR also for the operational phase of the system, starting in 2008 and including the management of the system and its upkeep and development, and which will largely be funded by the private sector. The Galileo surveillance authority will be responsible for managing and controlling the use of these funds.