Brussel – The Commission has allocated some €15 million to nine projects of common interest in the trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). These financing decisions constitute the last instalment of the total of €625 million available under the 2004 budget (see IP/05/50). The aid for these nine projects concerns in particular technical studies and works aimed at developing intelligent transport systems in the rail, aviation and inland waterways sectors. It also concerns the installation of a road traffic management system in the new Member States which is harmonised with that in the old Member States. “European Union support is helping to make European mobility safer and more efficient. The technical barriers to cross-border traffic have to be removed” stated Mr Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the Commission responsible for transport.

The Commission adopted nine decisions granting aid to projects of common interest in the TEN-T totalling €14.818 million, around half of which is to set up a harmonised road traffic management system linking the five new Member States of Central Europe with the rest of Europe. The aim of this programme is to solve the problems of road congestion caused by the strong economic growth in the new Member States.

By way of a reminder, European Union financial support for the completion of the TEN-T is aimed mainly at the 30 infrastructure projects declared to be of European interest by Parliament and the Council on 29 April 2004 (Decision No 884/2004/EC). The Commission is also especially interested in smaller scale projects aimed at improving traffic safety and management, including technology projects to deploy the European rail traffic management system and integrate air traffic control.

In order to facilitate the completion of these projects and the deployment of these systems within the timescale decided by Parliament and the Council, the Commission proposed in the financial perspective to allocate €20.690 billion to the trans-European network budget for 2007-2013 (COM/2004/475).

Further information on all the projects financed from the trans-European budget is available on: europa.eu.int/comm/ten/transport/actions/index_en.htm

– European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS): Deployment of the central infrastructure of GSM-R network for Belgian railways €0.9 million
– Air traffic management: Skaane project – Development of functional blocks of airspace (Denmark) €2 million
– Motorway connection IP1 IP3 (part of the TEN priority project No 8) Development of partnerships between the public and private sectors in road transport: compulsory purchases in border areas. Second phase (Portugal) €1 million
– European Rail Traffic Management System: development and design of a specific transmission module, (STM) ATP-VR/RHK (Finland) €1 million
– European Rail Traffic Management System: development and design of a specific transmission module, (STM) ATP (Sweden) €1 million
– Rome Airport (Fiumicino): rapid transit link (Italy) €1 million
– Waterways information network IRIS (Netherlands) €0.3 million
– CONNECT: Coordination and stimulation of innovation in intelligent transport systems in Central and Eastern Europe (road sector – works) €2,618 million
– CONNECT: Coordination and stimulation of innovation in intelligent transport systems in Central and Eastern Europe (road sector – studies) €5 million