Brussels, 18/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission decided at the end of December 2004 to grant €620 million for the assessment and construction of trans-European transport network projects (TEN-T). More than 65% has been allocated to rail projects and 20% to innovative and intelligent transport systems (ITS), such as those concerning interoperability in the railway or aviation sectors.
€515 million has been granted to projects which had already been identified in the 2001-2006 Multiannual Indicative Programme (MIP), which mainly covers the 30 priority projects approved by the European Parliament and the Council in April 2004. Among the projects and studies receiving significant support are GALILEO, the new Perpignan-Figueras rail link or the future Lyons-Turin and Brenner transalpine rail crossings. More than half of the funds are to support works (at a maximum rate of 10%). The remainder has been allocated to technical, economic, financial and environmental studies and to the other formalities required for obtaining planning permission (up to a maximum of 50%).
€105 million has been allocated to projects selected following a call for proposals open to all project promoters, whether public or private entities. This aid is for projects other than those financed by the MIP and which are smaller in scale. For the first time, the call for proposals for the co-funding of projects was open to the new Member States: €52 million has been allocated to them for this year, around half of which is for projects in the railway sector. (The full list of funded project can be found at: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/ten/transport/actions/index_en.htm)