Activites

• 1998/10/26 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1998/10/07 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0559/1998 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Joaquín SIS CRUELLAS (PPE, E) on the pan-European transport network, the European Parliament supported the concept of pan-European partnerships for the development and coordination of transport networks between the Union and its neighbouring states. It was convinced that improving transport links between the European Union and the neighbouring countries would contribute significantly to the growth, employment and overall competitiveness of the Union. Improving transport infrastructure would also help the applicant countries to prepare for accession (especially landlocked regions). It stressed the importance of coordination of the various participants in this context and called for all relevant Memorandums of Understanding to be concluded so as to make progress on implementing the relevant corridors, and supported the Commission's approach, in selecting projects for support in the neighbouring countries, of applying the same criteria already established in the guidelines for the trans-European networks for selecting projects in the EU. At the same time it called for the aim of shifting traffic to more environmentally friendly modes of transport to be borne in mind when developing transport corridors to neighbouring states, and called on the Commission in this connection to devote particular attention to promoting combined transport and public passenger transport and expanding the rail freight freeways and inland waterways. In the field of research, it stressed that the main emphasis should be placed on strengthening intermodality and the interoperability of different transport systems. It recommended that the concept of pan-European corridors be supplemented with four new transport zones (Europe's Arctic region, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Adriatic and Ionian Sea region) and welcomed the new transport route which had been added in south-east Europe (former Yugoslavia). It also welcomed the proposal for an agreement negotiated by the Commission with Switzerland concerning land transport in the Alps. Parliament welcomed the reorientation of the PHARE programme with a view to the forthcoming enlargement, and recommended the establishment of horizontal project infrastructure facilities with which interregional and cross-border projects of European significance could be promoted. It called, in future deliberations on the reorganisation of TACIS and MEDA, for infrastructure improvements, particularly with respect to environmentally friendly rail and inland waterway transport, to be regarded as worthy of encouragement. It called on the European Investment Bank to play a greater role in the expansion of the transport infrastructure in regions neighbouring the EU with long-term and low-interest loans. It called on the Commission to bring the TINA process of assessing the transport infrastructure needs of the associated countries to a swift conclusion and to present the European Parliament with the scheduled report on the economic feasibility of projects in these countries without delay. In the financial field, in the light of the limited financial resources available in the EU's neighbouring countries, Parliament suggested that the concept of public-private partnerships (PPPs) should be extended to infrastructure projects in these countries and called on the Commission to ensure that the appropriate framework conditions were put in place. It expected from the Commission a regular assessment of the implementation of the planned strategy (funding, timetable, etc.) in the applicant countries, and called on it to report on the coordination of the various programmes so far established (PHARE, TACIS, MEDA, INTERREG, TEN).�

• 1998/10/06 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1998/06/23 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0241/1998
• 1997/05/16 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1997/04/23 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1997)0172 summary

    OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this communication is to define the outline of a pan-European transport network policy, grouping the EU, the countries of central and eastern Europe, the former Soviet republics and the countries of the Mediterranean region. The goal is to create interoperable infrastructures which use intelligent transport systems and are compatible with environmental objectives. SUBSTANCE: The interconnection of the EU's transport infrastructures with those of its neighbours calls for the establishment of a pan-European strategy. The Commission believes it is vital to define a global strategy for a pan-European network, from the vantage points of both geographical scope and aspects covered. The pan-European network will cover not only western Europe but also the countries of central and eastern Europe, the former Soviet republics and the Union's partners in the Mediterranean region. This global approach will have to take account of the particular situation of the applicant countries, which are in process of evaluating their transport infrastructure needs together with the Union. - The Commission's approach presupposes the creation of a large-scale partnership mechanism encompassing five areas of action for sustainable mobility: 1) the definition of pan-European corridors and areas, as a framework for ensuring efficient transport services with all the Community's neighbours. The Commission will encourage all the countries of Europe, the international financial institutions and the private sector to make every effort to establish these corridors. Hitherto, the main corridors have concerned road and rail transport and, to a lesser extent, inland waterways (e.g. navigation of the Danube). However, the aim of a specifically pan-European corridor is to promote multimodal transport from the moment of conception. The corridor model is far less suitable for the Black Sea and Aegean regions, the Mediterranean basin and the Adriatic. The notion of 'zone' has therefore been added to complement it, the aim being to institute an improved combination of links, nodes and navigation and aviation facilities; 2) extension of the trans-European networks to the applicant countries as part of the pre-accession strategy; 3) a common European approach to transport technology, especially so as to ensure interoperability (the main concern here is to harmonize the technical specifications and standards applicable to transport); 4) the promotion of intelligent transport technologies across the pan-European network (telematics, automatic signalling, etc); 5) R & D cooperation (especially within the fifth framework programme for research and technological development, in which a substantial part of strategic transport research has been concerned with bringing in the countries of central and eastern Europe). The Commission considers that attention must be paid in all circumstances ro environmental concerns in the planning and development of the pan-European transport network: sustainable mobility in Europe taken as a whole must be an integral part of the development of transport infrastructures. Strategic environmental assessment, accompanied by social and economic evaluation, must be the cornerstone of the entire strategy for the pan-European network. Partnership will also have to embrace the financial, institutional and legislative aspects: - Concerning the financial aspects, most infrastructural investment will come from national sources (a large proportion being supplied by the public sector). The necessary investment will, however, also require private-sector support, as well as appropriate Community funding to trigger it off. In the case of the applicant countries, aid will be supplied by the international financial institutions (the BERD, the World Bank, the EIB, the EIF). - With respect to the pre-accession strategy instruments, a trans-European networks programme must be created involving a number of countries. This will strengthen the overall functioning of the market economy in the applicant countries and accelerate their adoption of the acquis communautaire and the full development of joint policies. For the TACIS countries and the Mediterranean basin countries, consideration will be given to putting more stress on expenditure on transport networks. The Commission will take the necessary action to ensure horizontal coordination and compatibility between the various budget instruments for transport network investment. - The institutional and legislative aspects of partnership will be based on the broad spectrum of existing organizations: the Helsinki Pan-European Transport Conference, the G-24 transport working group, the ECMT and the conference of transport ministers of the Mediterranean countries. �

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1997)0172
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0241/1998
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0559/1998

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)