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Mobility and Transport
News article16 June 2020Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport

European Coordinators: completion of the TEN-T Network necessary to enable the European recovery

Statement by the nine European Coordinators for the core network corridors of the trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) following the European Court of Auditor’s report of eight large cross-border projects:

"Delivering the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), today more than ever, is indispensable in these times of challenges and uncertainties. Quality infrastructure enabling sustainable transport alternatives such as rail and inland waterways, will help the functioning of the European internal market and achieving the goals of the European Green Deal. All Member States have committed to realising the TEN-T Core Network by 2030. This means addressing important bottlenecks and key missing links across Europe, especially where cross-border connections are inexistent or unable to cater for modern transport needs. The crisis demonstrated the importance and value of those cross-border connections and transport infrastructures have a key role to play in the economic recovery.

We confirm the good progress being made on the eight TEN-T projects audited by the European Court of Auditors. As European Coordinators, we are following these projects very closely. They are complex projects, which mature over a long time cycle, not least as a result of public consultations. This is true for all large transport infrastructure projects, but especially so for cross-border projects involving several Member States with sometimes very different approaches to the preparation and management of these major projects. These projects are key components of the European transport network and that is why the evaluation of their socio-economic impacts must go beyond the simple summing up of national impacts. The evaluation instruments must be adapted to the transnational reality of the corridors.

EU financial support has been decisive in bringing these game-changing projects for the Single Market into being for both passengers and freight. Many of these would not have proceeded without it. Similar EU projects have included the Öresund Bridge and the high-speed rail connections in the centre of the European network linking Amsterdam–Brussels-Paris-London and Cologne. Both of these projects have exceeded all forecasting expectations.

We will continue to engage with the national authorities and project promoters to ensure that all efforts are made to deliver TEN-T projects on time and on budget for the benefit of travellers and the transport of goods across Europe. An important step was reached last week when the European Parliament and Council agreed to streamline permit granting procedures in order to reduce the administrative burden and lead times for especially cross-border projects. We confirm our determination to bring all the projects in question to a successful conclusion."

- Peter Balazs, Pat Cox, Mathieu Grosch, Anne Jensen, Karla Peijs, Iveta Radicova, Carlo Secchi, Catherine Trautmann, Pawel Wojciechowski.

The European Coordinators for the core network corridors concert the implementation of each of these TEN-T corridors. Their mission is to coordinate the decisions and actions of the Member States and other relevant stakeholders in order to achieve the realisation of those corridors.

Details

Publication date
16 June 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport