Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-25-Speech-3-092"
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"en.20040225.6.3-092"2
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"Mr President, there has been a lot of talk about involving the European Parliament in drawing up what is termed the Quick Start list. I do not want to make a further contribution to this discussion, but instead concentrate on something of equal importance in this context, namely the financing and management of the projects.
The Court of Auditors has investigated the management system for the trans-European transport network and is extremely severe in its criticisms. The conclusion is that control must be improved. It must be more effective, and there is a need for uniformly consistent application of the TEN rules in all the Member States.
The new Member States already participate in the TEN programme. I am sincerely in favour of enlargement, and I am sincerely in favour of the Member States participating in all the EU programmes as rapidly as possible, but the new Member States are not always as good at controlling EU funds, and the Commission is not always that good at keeping the new Member States up to the mark. Unfortunately, the Quick Start projects are an example of this.
In Slovakia, for example, a motorway project designed to link Katowice to Zilina and not in any way complying with our standards was approved. The project was approved even though there is no justification for it whatsoever in terms of economics or traffic conditions. Unfortunately, we see far too many examples of projects being approved without proper investigation, without cost/benefit analyses and without account being taken of their environmental consequences. The TEN programme is a success, but we must not build motorways and bridges if there is no need for them.
We must ensure that the controls are effective and uniform in all the Member States. If we secure proper control of EU funds, we secure greater legitimacy for the TEN projects. If the finances are in order, we make it easier to attract private venture capital. That is something we must, in particular, remember, since public-private partnership looks like being an option in connection with financing future infrastructure projects.
Only once these things are in place will we be well on the way to giving impetus to a great many of the necessary infrastructure projects, and that will take us closer to our common objective of creating a coherent EU.
Let me give an example of a project designated both for EU cofinancing and a public-private partnership. This is the fixed link between Denmark and Germany across the Fehmarn Belt. There is quite clearly a need for a bridge across the belt so that we can remove this bottleneck from the north-south axis. On the Danish side, a lot has constantly been done to ensure that this major project can be carried out. Unfortunately, it appears that there is rather a lack of political will in Germany.
Once the project has got under way, and it will hopefully not be very long before that happens, the EU will be stronger and, at the same time, the regions on both sides of the Fehmarn Belt will find that employment has been given an economic boost."@en1
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