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Mobility and Transport
News article27 July 2022Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport

Commission amends TEN-T proposal to reflect impacts on infrastructure of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

The Commission today proposed to amend its December 2021 proposal on the revision of the TEN-T Regulation. Since December, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has redefined the geopolitical landscape, highlighting the EU’s vulnerability to unforeseen events beyond the Union’s borders. The major impacts on global markets, such as global food security, have underlined that the Union’s internal market and transport network cannot be looked at in isolation when it comes to Union policy. Better connections with the EU’s neighbouring partner countries are now needed more than ever before.

Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said: ”By extending four European Transport Corridors to the territory of Ukraine and Moldova – including the ports of Mariupol and Odesa – today’s proposal will help improve transport connectivity of these two countries to the EU, facilitating economic exchanges and better connections for people and business alike. These corridors will also be a key priority in rebuilding the transport infrastructure of Ukraine once the war ends. Our efforts to facilitate the export of grains from Ukraine via the Solidarity Lanes have also demonstrated the importance of interoperability in the transport system, reinforcing the need to increase convergence within the EU network, making it more resilient and strengthening the internal market.”

Responding to the request within the ‘Solidarity Lanes’ communication, designed to help agricultural and other goods to reach the EU and world markets, today’s proposal extends four European Transport Corridors to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. The ground for this extension had already been prepared when the Commission adopted revised maps for the TEN-T network in Ukraine earlier in the month.

In view of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, and the position adopted by Belarus in this conflict, cooperation with Russia and Belarus on transport is no longer considered appropriate, nor in the interest of the EU.  The proposal therefore removes Russia and Belarus from the TEN-T maps. The Commission is also proposing to downgrade the last miles of all cross-border connections between the EU and Russia/Belarus from ‘core network’ to ‘comprehensive network’. This implies a later target date for completion – 2050 instead of 2030.

The different rail track gauges used in Ukraine compared to most of the EU are also addressed in the proposal. The difference is a huge obstacle to interoperability. The proposal includes measures to migrate railway lines, when economically justified, to the European standard track gauge. This also applies to non-standard track gauges within the EU; the difficulties at the Ukraine border have highlighted how this lack of interoperability makes the railway network inside EU territory vulnerable. 

The proposal adopted today will now be part of the ongoing negotiations with the European Parliament and the Council on the TEN-T revision, which started early this year.

More information

Amended proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 and Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulation (EU) 1315/2013

27 JULY 2022
Revised TEN-T maps: Downgrading the last mile connections to Russia and Belarus, from core to comprehensive network
English
(9.85 MB - PDF)
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27 JULY 2022
Revised corridors to include Ukraine and Moldova
English
(6.4 MB - PDF)
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27 JULY 2022
Revised map of Ukraine
English
(2.31 MB - PDF)
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Details

Publication date
27 July 2022
Author
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport