19/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - On 30 March, the European Commission is expected to launch a call for tender for funding projects due to end before the end of this year, as part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The European commissioner for transport, Antonio Tajani, informed the European Parliament's transport committee that the budget for this call for tender will be €500 million. In his presentation of the first nine months of his mandate to members of the committee on Monday 16 March, Tajani said that TEN-T was now expected to help towards “opening the doors towards the south and east”. A number of meetings with the European Investment Bank (EIB) are due to be organised this year to “relaunch TEN-T towards the east”, explained the commissioner, who also highlighted the continuation of recent projects begun with Africa. A meeting has been organised at the end of May, on the initiative of the Dutch minister of transport, which is expected to focus on speeding up implementation of the rail link between Rotterdam and Genoa. (A.By/transl.rh)