Transport Commissioner highlights the importance of transport for creating employment
Siim Kallas, the EU Transport Commissioner, stressed in a conference that investments in transport are critical for creating employment and a return to economic growth. In his speech, Kallas focused on the key issue of transport financing and set out four major deliverables for 2012-2013, to get the conditions for transport financing right.
In the speech given by the EU Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, at the European Policy Centre in Brussels on the 2 of February, he highlighted that investments in transport are critical for creating employment and a return to economic growth in order to face the economic crisis. He also added that reviving growth must be part of the solution, not only tackling budget deficits and implementing austerity measures as the only way to regain market confidence.
Mr Kallas focused in his speech on the key issue of transport financing and set out four major deliverables for 2012-2013, to get the conditions for transport financing right. The four deliverables are Connecting Europe Facility; ring-fencing money for East West Connections; getting private sector finance into transport; and making transport more self-financing (looking at road tolling and infrastructure charging schemes).
As a part of this commitment, on the 10 of January the Commission launched a Call for Proposals under the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) annual programme, making €200 million available to co-finance projects in several specific priority areas. The deadline for submitting proposals is 13 April 2012.