21 of the ten T are not on the same level of priority

For Europe, 2006 will be a year key with two important deadlines. Firstly, the adoption of the new financial regulation for the priorities budgetary Transport (ten - T) EU to record, and bring in legislative terms, the reduction of the budget. Then, at the end of 2006, the meeting of the Committee ten - T should adopt the multiannual indicative Programme 2007-2013.

Transportation budget moves, the EU prefers to focus on research

This meeting promises to be decisive! It will have to fix, from 25 national lists of investment, the forecast schedule for the infrastructures co-financed by the ten - T budget. However, at the conclusion of the agreement of last December on the financial perspectives of the European Union, the budget allocated to the ten - T for 2007-2013 did reach that 6.7 billion Euro (s)... Far from the 20.35 billion of the original proposal! In addition, with the recent enlargement of the Union, these 6.7 billion, reported number of inhabitants or km2, are well below the amount of 2000-2006 (which was 4.6 billion Euro (s)).

Sign of the times: the ten - T budget line appears under the heading "Competitiveness" () in the same way that the 7th framework programme of research and development (FPRD). This means that the Council clearly gives priority to research (whose budget will increase by 60) on infrastructure.

In addition, the Conference of peripheral maritime regions of Europe (CPMR) considers that the priority given to the single rail mode over the motorways of the sea is unacceptable. Even if certain rail projects deserve to be encouraged (the axis TGV Southwest Europe, supported by the Atlantic Arc Commission, or the railway line Berlin-Verona/Milan-Bologna-Naples-Messina-Palermo), the Conference "to oppose an option focusing on six of the 30 priority projects so that the motorways of the Sea (project priority No. 21 of the ten - T) are not on the same level of priority."

Fund ERDF: peripheral regions opposed to developed regions

Theoretically, the financing of transport infrastructure through the mobilization of the Cohesion Fund, ERDF and the European Investment Bank. However, since the drastic reduction of the ten - T budget is presented as "acquired", a debate had been established. It focuses on the definition of the criteria of choice between the 30 priority projects decided upon in 2004. And on the other, the selection between the different sections of each of these 30 priority projects. In this debate, some countries would like to focus the ten - T funding on non-eligible areas to the first objective of the ERDF, the convergence objective.

In this context, the Conference reaffirmed: "the ten - T budget cannot be considered by the European institutions as a financial instrument for the only areas developed in Europe, to offset their non-éligibilité to the structural funds". In theory, therefore, the non-eligible regions for the convergence objective will benefit from the ERDF to co-finance the transport infrastructure. Is that in these areas, the amounts of the ERDF for 2007-2013 will be 20 lower than those for the current period. PIs, 75 of these appropriations must be dedicated to investments contribute to the Lisbon strategy (earmarking). Clearly, the ERDF will not compensate for the deficiency of the ten - T budget. q

() This chapter includes the R & D, transport, education, integrated single market and social policy and receives an envelope of EUR 72,01 billion over seven years.