12 Trans-European
Transport Network
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(35722)
5166/14
+ ADD 1
COM(13) 940
(b)
(35725)
5162/14
+ ADD 1
C(13) 9690
(c)
(35745)
5528/14
+ ADDs 1-3
C(14) 95
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Commission Communication: Building the transport core network: core network corridors and Connecting Europe Facility
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. .../... of 7.1.2014 amending Annex I to Regulation (EU) No. 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Connecting Europe Facility
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. .../... of 17.1.2014 amending Regulation (EU) No. 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards supplementing Annex III thereto with new indicative maps
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| Legal base
| (a) —
(b) and (c) Article 172 TFEU; co-decision; QMV
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| Documents originated
| (a) and (b) 7 January 2014
(c) 17 January 2014
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| Deposited in Parliament
| (a) 14 January 2014
(b) 16 January 2014
(c) 24 January 2014
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| Department
| Transport
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| Basis of consideration
| EM of 30 January 2014
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| Previous Committee Report
| None
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| Discussion in Council
| (a) Not known
(b) The period for Council scrutiny ends on 7 March 2014
(c) The period for Council scrutiny ends on 17 March 2014
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| Committee's assessment
| Politically important
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| Committee's decision
| Cleared
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Background
12.1 The Trans-European Transport
Network (TEN-T) programme finances infrastructure projects and
studies for roads, railways, inland waterways, airports, ports,
satellite navigation and traffic management systems lying on the
designated TEN-T network. Following a policy review, which began
in 2010, new Regulations were adopted in 2013: Regulation (EU)
No. 1315/2013 and Regulation (EU) No. 1316/2013.
12.2 Regulation (EU) No. 1315/2013,
the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Regulation, established the
CEF, bringing together the three Trans-European Networks (transport,
telecommunications and energy) infrastructure funding programmes
into one package, for the period 2014-20 and set out the conditions,
methods and procedures for providing funding. The Regulation provided
for €33.24 billion (£27.70 billion), at current prices,
of which €26.25 billion (£21.88 billion) is for the
TEN-T and within which is €11.31 billion (£9.43 billion)
from the Cohesion Fund provision for the period 2014-20.
12.3 Regulation (EU) No. 1316/2013
established new guidelines for the TEN-T. It describes a Comprehensive
Network, of which it says Member States "shall make all possible
efforts with the aim of completing" the network by 31 December
2050, and, within that, a higher priority Core Network, of which
it says "Member States shall take the appropriate measures"
for completion by 31 December 2030.
12.4 Both Regulations provide for
the Commission to make delegated acts in relation to some defined
matters. The Regulations say of such acts that they:
"shall enter into force only
if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament
or by the Council within a period of two months of the notification
of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if,
before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and
the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not
object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative
of the European Parliament or of the Council."
The documents
12.5 The Commission has published:
· a
proposed delegated act to supplement the CEF Regulation in order
to list the funding priorities to be reflected in the annual and
multiannual work programmes, document (b);
· an
accompanying Communication, document (a); and
· a
proposed delegated act to amend Annex III of the TEN-T Regulation
to include maps defining the connections of the TEN-T to the transport
networks of neighbouring countries, document (c).
12.6 The CEF Regulation requires
the Commission to implement a delegated act detailing the "funding
priorities to be reflected in the work programmes". The delegated
act proposed, document (b), will insert an Annex into the CEF
Regulation to provide clarity on the actions which will be eligible
for funding under the facility by bringing together the different
priorities expressed in the Regulation into one place. The structure
of the delegated act reflects the multiannual and annual work
programmes and the different modal objectives expressed in the
CEF Regulation.
12.7 In the Communication which
accompanies the delegated act to supplement the CEF Regulation
the Commission:
· gives
information on the indicative budget for the different priorities
and the instruments available, providing a guide to potential
applicants on the management of programme funds;
· provides
information on the main aspects of the management of the CEF;
and
· outlines
how the Commission will support the creation and functioning of
the Core Network Corridors.
12.8 The Core Network Corridors
are defined in Annex I of the CEF Regulation and are intended
to be an implementation tool for the Core Network. The Commission
says that:
· it
will appoint European Coordinators to facilitate the implementation
of the corridors;
· each
Coordinator will be assisted by a Corridor Forum set up with the
agreement of Member States, which may be supported by working
groups if required;
· in
collaboration with Member States each Coordinator will produce
a work plan which will identify the bottlenecks and interoperability
issues for the corridor;
· the
work plan must be agreed with Member States and put in place by
December 2014;
· the
Commission may, with the agreement of Member States, adopt the
work plan as an implementing act;
· Coordinators
will also be appointed for Motorways of the Sea and the European
Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), the horizontal objectives
of the TEN-T;
· the
programme will be managed in the same way as the 2007-13 TEN-T
programme;
· the
Commission will directly manage the programme assisted by the
Innovation and Networks Executive Agency;
· work
programmes defining the competitive calls for funding and subsequent
awards will be adopted after the approval of the CEF Committee
(composed of representatives from all the Member States);
· evaluation
of applications will remain the same — a technical evaluation
by independent experts, moderated by Innovation and Networks Executive
Agency panels of experts and followed by an internal evaluation
by the Commission;
· the
Commission aims to coordinate TEN-T funding from the CEF more
effectively with other EU funding programmes than has been done
in the past, to ensure better EU added value; and
· the
Cohesion Fund element of the CEF will be managed differently,
with more active involvement of the Member States qualifying for
Cohesion Funds (the UK does not qualify for this element of the
CEF).
12.9 The Communication is accompanied
by a Staff Working Document which sets out the Commission's planning
methodology for defining the TEN-T Core and Comprehensive Networks,
including the different thresholds for inclusion of ports airports
and other nodes.
12.10 The TEN-T Regulation allows
the Commission to adopt a delegated act amending Annex III to
include indicative maps which define the connections of the TEN-T
to the transport networks of neighbouring countries. The proposed
delegated act, document (c), will include in Annex III maps for
the Eastern Partnership Transport Network — Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia, maps for the Eastern Partnership Transport Network
— Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, and maps for the Northern
Dimension Partnership on Transport and Logistics — Belarus
and the Russian Federation. The inclusion of these maps is to
allow a more targeted EU co-operation with the countries concerned
and enable limited co-financing of cross-border projects from
the annual work programme of the CEF. Further maps will be added
as agreements are put in place with other relevant neighbourhood
countries.
The Government's view
12.11 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State, Department for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill), saying
that there are no significant policy implications or impacts arising
from these documents, tells us that the Government does not intend
to delay the commencement of the TEN-T programme by objecting
to the delegated acts during the Council's two-month scrutiny
period.
12.12 The Minister then comments
on the context of the proposals, saying that:
· the
UK has been supportive of an EU role in transport infrastructure,
especially where this concerns routes that are essential for movement
of goods and people within the single market;
· the
TEN-T and CEF Regulations focus on improving cross-border sections,
removing bottlenecks and facilitating interoperability and inter-modality
will help to do this;
· the
TEN-T Regulation should encourage a more efficient and economic
network;
· in
negotiating the TEN-T and CEF Regulations the Government's aim
was to minimise the impact of additional financial or administrative
burdens on the UK from the technical standards and infrastructure
developments contained in the new legislation; and
· the
Government believes that the final Regulations contain sufficient
flexibility to address its original concerns, particularly in
relation to technical standards and deadlines, by recognising
the need to take account of Member States' finances and to consider
the economic viability of projects.
12.13 Turning to the documents
themselves the Minister says that:
· one
of the Government's key concerns during the negotiation was the
potential for the corridor management process to have an impact
on Member States' ability to decide on which projects they should
develop and invest in for national networks and the potential
for additional bureaucracy and programme management costs;
· the
Government will work with the Corridor Coordinator and Forum to
ensure that administrative costs and information obligations are
kept to a minimum;
· the
Communication is unclear about funding for the Core Network;
· the
CEF delegated act itself, which is the legal basis for the programme
priorities, and Annex I of the CEF Regulation are, however, both
clear that Core Network projects are eligible for funding;
· the
Government does not foresee any barriers to UK projects on the
Core Network seeking funding from the programme (subject to the
provisions of the TEN-T and CEF Regulations);
· it
should be noted that the process for managing the CEF will be
broadly the same as for the 2007-13 TEN-T programme — funding
will be allocated through competitive calls and projects seeking
TEN-T support should be mature, with a financing package in place
and should meet the specific criteria and timescales set by the
Commission;
· the
Government will continue to engage with the Devolved Administrations
to consider the appropriate level of UK representation on the
Corridor Forum;
· these
documents place no direct burdens or obligations on business or
the third sector;
· the
Government will work with the Commission and Corridor Coordinator
to ensure that any administrative costs or information obligations
arising from corridor coordination are kept to a minimum, in line
with the EU's commitment to reduce the burdens of regulation and
the UK's Better Regulation agenda;
· there
are no direct financial burdens on Member States arising from
the delegated acts;
· there
will be very minor costs to the Department for Transport, which
will be associated with participation in the Corridor Forums and
engagement with the Corridor Coordinator — the Government
expects that these will be absorbed within current administrative
budgets; and
· the
Government will work to ensure that the coordination process and
any associated reporting requirements impose the minimum burden
on participants.
Conclusion
12.14 The proper management
of the funding for Trans-European Transport Network projects is
important. However, we are content that these documents do not
require further scrutiny and accordingly clear them.
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