Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-13-Speech-2-267"
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"en.20070313.22.2-267"2
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".
Before handing over to Mr Potočnik, I should like to clarify, in answer to Mrs Kratsa Tsagaropoulou’s last question, the difference between the priority projects for the trans-European networks and the transnational axes. In 2004, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a decision that changed the guidelines for the trans-European network for the territory of the European Union of 27. This policy concentrates investments on 30 axes and transnational priority projects.
This close collaboration between the Commission and the European Investment Bank and the other sponsors must be reinforced in the regional context as well as in the global context. Public-private partnerships are a promising tool for the realisation of infrastructure projects that are profitable from economic, social and environmental points of view.
In order to implement the package proposed in the communication, the Commission will opt for an approach by stages that is intended to reinforce the framework for cooperation between the European Union and the neighbouring countries. From 2007, the Commission is to start preliminary discussions with the neighbouring countries in order to define with them coordination frameworks that are structured and effective and which should allow the active, synchronised implementation of measures along the axes. I hope that, following these discussions, the Commission will make a concrete proposal. I hope also to be able to present a report at the halfway stage in the autumn of 2007.
As you know, Mrs Kratsa, the trans-European transport network (RTE) budget amounts to EUR 8 billion and with this amount it will not be possible to cofinance all the priority projects in their entirety. Therefore, it will be necessary to concentrate the budget on cross-border sections and bottlenecks, that is, the projects that produce the highest European added value.
On the other hand, the document identifies five major axes that link the European Union to its neighbours. These five axes do not alter the priorities fixed by the European transport networks within the European Union. The document is in keeping with the European Neighbourhood Policy. This policy was designed to avoid causing splits between the European Union and its neighbours, whether in the context of membership or in relation to closer cooperation.
Euro-Mediterranean cooperation within the transport sector has been identified, from the beginning of the Barcelona process, as one of the priorities for cooperation in the context of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. It is dependent upon the Euro-Mediterranean transport forum and its working parties. Currently, a budget envelope in the region of EUR 200 million has been allocated for financing actions developed in the context of Euro-Med Transport cooperation. It is mainly about pre-feasibility studies for 10 infrastructure projects on the priority axes for Euro-Mediterranean transport.
The total cost of the projects proposed within the context of Mediterranean cooperation amounts to EUR 23 billion by 2020 for the Mediterranean region. Of course, national budget appropriations are still essential for the transport sector, in particular for the maintenance of the existing network but also for critical investments, especially at cross-border level.
The Community will continue to support these actions as in the past, by means of technical assistance and by assistance in improving administrative capacity. In certain instances, support may include investment for critical infrastructures, especially cross-border, or key horizontal measures.
At this point, I should like to remind you that the European Investment Bank’s new mandates provide a Community guarantee that should allow that Bank to grant up to EUR 8.7 billion in loans during the period 2007-2013 to Mediterranean countries. I repeat, EUR 8.7 billion in loans! That is no small sum.
Furthermore, most of the national indicative programmes already make provision for interest rate subsidies in order to make it easier for the European Investment Bank, or other development banks, to grant loans.
The Commission intends also to put in place an investment fund of EUR 700 million in donations for the European Neighbourhood Policy for the period 2007-2013. This fund will make it possible to back the loans granted by the European Investment Bank and other European development banks, especially in the transport, energy and environment sectors."@en1
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