Brussels, 11/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC) has described progress in the development of 30 priority projects in the Trans-European Transport Network (TENs) as “disappointing”. In a report published on 27 March on the state of TENs, FIEC also strongly regretted that funding allocated by member states to the network was “inadequate”. The report follows the European Commission's communication of 21 March on this subject.
A study carried out by FIEC every year and updated in January 2007 indicated that at the end of 2005, only six of the 14 original priority projects approved at the Essen European Council of 1994 had received the full funding. Three of these six projects are now finished (the Cork-Dublin-Belfast-Stranraer railway line, Malpensa airport, as well as the Oresund tunnel bridge linking Denmark and Sweden). The work, however, for completing the three other projects is still ongoing: the high speed railway line linking Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Amsterdam and London; the Betuwe railway line linking Rotterdam to the German border (two projects the European Commission believes will be finished by the end of the year), as well as the London-Glasgow-Edinburgh railway line.
The FIEC, which brings together 33 national federations from 28 European countries (including Croatia and Turkey), considers that the financial resources planned for the Trans-European Networks in the financial perspectives for 2007-13 are “inadequate”. Out of the €8,013bn reserved for TENs projects, only €5bn is in fact accessible for the “physical construction” of the transport hubs. FIEC explains that the rest of this funding went to other projects such as Galileo (the satellite navigation system) or the motorways of the sea. The European Construction Industry Federation also accuses member states of a “lack of political will” and being too little inclined to co-fund major infrastructure projects.
According to European Commission estimates, investments of a total volume of €160bn will be necessary for 2007-13 to help develop 30 priority projects in the Trans-European Networks and allow for their completion by the 2020 deadline as planned. According to the Commission, the total cost of completing the 30 priority projects in the timeframe up to 2020 will be €280bn. The Commission estimates the overall cost of the Trans-European Networks at €600bn. (aby)