The European Commission has published on January, 20th 2009 a Report addressed to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, on the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network Guidelines during the period 2004-2005, according to Article 8 of Decision 1692/96/EC.

This report provides an assessment of the development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) following the TEN-T guidelines set out in Decision 1692/96/EC. These guidelines constitute a general reference framework for the implementation of the network and identify projects of common interest.

Transport modes covered by the TEN-T Guidelines

• Road
• Rail and inland waterway networks
• Motorways of the sea
• Seaports and inland waterway ports
• Airports and other interconnection points between modal networks
• Traffic management and navigation systems

In April 2004 the European Parliament and the Council adopted the revised guidelines with Decision Nº 884/2004/EC1, amending Decision Nº 1692/96/EC. The amended guidelines gave greater priority to key projects and concentrated scarce funds on projects of European interest, such as cross-border sections and natural barriers, and had a time horizon for completion by 2020.

Further to the general objective of ensuring the sustainable mobility of people and goods, mechanisms should be put in place to support the development of motorways of the sea between Member States in order to reduce road congestion and/or improve access to peripheral and island regions and countries.

TEN-T Implementation during 2004-2005

The funds allocated to TEN-T implementation in 2004 and 2005 were analysed for this report, by project and by Member State, with a special focus on priority projects.

The total investment in the TEN-T network in the EU-27 over the two-year period 2004 – 2005 was approximately EUR 101.74 billion. (EUR 50.4 billion in 2004 and EUR 51.3 billion in 2005).

A general assessment of the sources of TEN-T investment during 2004–05 shows that national public funding contributed about 76.9%, by far the largest part, and together with loans from EIB accounted for more than 91%.

In terms of modes, investment in the 2004 – 2005 period focused on railways (57%), followed by roads (27%), airports (9%), ports (5%) and inland waterways (2%). This distribution shows an increase in rail investment compared to 1996 – 2003.

The report also analysis some elements regarding horizontal issues of TEN-T implementation guidelines such as interoperability, research and development or environmental protection.

General conclusions on the implementation of TEN-T Guidelines

The total investment in the TEN-T network in the EU-27 over the two-year period 2004 – 2005 shows an increase in average annual investment in the TEN-T network compared with the previous period 2000 to 2003, with average spending already reaching about EUR 51 billion, a figure significantly higher than in previous years.

One of the reasons is certainly the increase in grants due to the fact that the 10 new Member States were eligible for this funding from May, 1st 2004.

Concerning financing, it can be concluded that national public funding still contributed by far the largest part of the investment in the TEN-T network. In order to concentrate the scarce Community funds and to facilitate the coordinated implementation of certain projects, in particular cross-border projects, the Commission has designated "European Coordinators", in agreement with the Member States concerned and after having consulted the European Parliament.

The completion of the 30 priority projects for international traffic by 2020 is in general on track. With an annual investment volume of about EUR 50 billion, transport infrastructure can be improved significantly; nevertheless, the elimination of cross-border bottlenecks in particular is still lagging behind and needs to be improved.