Brussels, 01/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - Relieving the bottleneck at the Brenner Pass in the Alps, a transit point between Italy, Austria and Northern Europe, is a 'genuine priority' for the European Union, said Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot on Thursday, quoted by AFP. Speaking in Innsbruck in Austria, before leaving for Italy on Friday, Barrot said there was a growing need to transfer freight from road to rail, and in this connection, it was vital to establish the great European rail networks. One of these, the planned construction of the Brenner Tunnel, is one of the 30 priority projects to establish the trans-European transport networks (TEN-T), which will be a 'priority' in the upcoming Financial Perspectives (as long as the Commission's proposals to triple the EU budget for the TEN-T are accepted, Ed.).
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Another Community instrument designed to contribute to the development of the TEN-Ts: the proposal to modify the Eurovignette directive to tax heavy goods vehicles using TEN-T infrastructures. This directive will offer Member States of the EU “greater flexibility in calculating tolls” and even the possibility of “mark-ups” in some cases, such as Brenner, Commissioner Barrot pointed out, adding that he was “hopeful” of an agreement on this proposal at the Transport Council on 21 April.