Decision No 884/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 1 U.K.

Decision No 1692/96/EC is hereby amended as follows:

1)

in Article 2(1), the date "2010" shall be replaced by "2020";

2)

Article 3(2) shall be replaced by the following:

“2. The transport infrastructure shall comprise road, rail and inland waterway networks, motorways of the sea, seaports and inland waterway ports, airports and other interconnection points between modal networks.”;

3)

Article 5 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 5 Priorities

Taking into account the objectives set out in Article 2 and the broad lines of measures set out in Article 4, the priorities shall be:

(a)

establishment and development of the key links and interconnections needed to eliminate bottlenecks, fill in missing sections and complete the main routes, especially their cross-border sections, cross natural barriers, and improve interoperability on major routes;

(b)

establishment and development of infrastructure which promotes the interconnection of national networks in order to facilitate the linkage of islands, or areas similar to islands, and landlocked, peripheral and outermost regions on the one hand and the central regions of the Community on the other, in particular to reduce the high transport costs of these areas;

(c)

the necessary measures for the gradual achievement of an interoperable rail network, including, where feasible, routes adapted for freight transport;

(d)

the necessary measures to promote long-distance, short sea and inland shipping;

(e)

the necessary measures to integrate rail and air transport, especially through rail access to airports, whenever appropriate, and the infrastructures and installations needed;

(f)

optimisation of the capacity and efficiency of existing and new infrastructure, promotion of intermodality and improvement of the safety and reliability of the network by establishing and improving intermodal terminals and their access infrastructure and/or by deploying intelligent systems;

(g)

integration of safety and environmental concerns in the design and implementation of the trans-European transport network;

(h)

development of sustainable mobility of persons and goods in accordance with the objectives of the European Union on sustainable development.”;

4)

Article 8 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 8 Environmental Protection

1. When projects are planned and carried out, environmental protection must be taken into account by the Member States by carrying out, pursuant to Council Directive 85/337/EEC, environmental impact assessments of projects of common interest which are to be implemented and by applying Council Directives 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds(1) and 92/43/EEC.

As from 21 July 2004 an environmental assessment of the plans and programmes leading to such projects, especially where they concern new routes or other important nodal infrastructure development, shall be carried out by Member States pursuant to Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment.(2). Member States shall take the results of this environmental assessment into account in the preparation of the plans and programmes concerned, in accordance with Article 8 of that Directive.

2. By 21 July 2004, the Commission shall, in agreement with Member States, develop suitable methods for implementing the strategic environmental assessment with the objective of ensuring, inter alia, appropriate coordination, avoiding duplication of effort, and achieving simplification and acceleration of planning processes for cross-border projects and corridors.

The results of this work and of the environmental assessment of the TEN projects carried out by Member States pursuant to Directive 2001/42/EC shall be taken into account, as appropriate, by the Commission in its report on the guidelines and the possible accompanying legislative proposals to revise the guidelines provided for in Article 18(3) of this Decision.”;

5)

in Article 9, paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

“3. The network shall also include infrastructure for traffic management, user information, dealing with incidents and emergencies and electronic fee collection, such infrastructure being based on active cooperation between traffic management systems at European, national and regional level and providers of travel and traffic information and value added services, which will ensure the necessary complementarity with applications whose deployment is facilitated under the trans-European telecommunications networks programme.”;

6)

Article 10 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 10 Characteristics

1. The rail network shall comprise high-speed rail lines and conventional rail lines.

2. The high-speed rail network, whether using current or new technology, shall comprise:

(a) specially built high-speed lines equipped for speeds generally equal to or greater than 250 km/h;

(b) specially upgraded high-speed lines equipped for speeds of the order of 200 km/h;

(c) specially upgraded high-speed lines or lines specially built for high speed and connected to the high-speed rail network which have special features as a result of topographical or environmental, relief or town-planning constraints, on which speed must be adapted individually.

The high-speed rail network shall consist of the lines indicated in Annex I. Essential requirements and technical specifications for interoperability applicable to high-speed rail lines using current technology shall be defined in accordance with Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system(3). Member States shall give the Commission prior notice of the opening of any high-speed line and of the line's technical characteristics.

3. The conventional rail network shall comprise lines for the conventional transport by rail of passengers and freight, including the rail segments of the trans-European combined transport network referred to in Article 14, access links to sea and inland ports of common interest and those freight terminals which are open to all operators. Essential requirements and technical specifications for interoperability applicable to the conventional rail lines are defined in accordance with Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system(4).

4. The rail network shall include the infrastructures and the facilities which enable rail and road and, where appropriate, maritime services and air transport services to be integrated. In this regard, particular attention shall be paid to the connection of regional airports to the network.

5. The rail network shall fulfil at least one of the following functions:

(a) play an important role in long-distance passenger traffic;

(b) permit interconnection with airports, where appropriate;

(c) permit access to regional and local rail networks;

(d) facilitate freight transport by means of the identification and development of trunk routes dedicated to freight or routes on which freight trains have a priority;

(e) play an important role in combined transport;

(f) permit interconnection via ports of common interest with short sea shipping and inland waterways.

6. The rail network shall offer users a high level of quality and safety, by virtue of its continuity and of the gradual implementation of its interoperability, which shall be brought about in particular by technical harmonisation and the ERTMS harmonised command and control system recommended for the European railway network. To this end, a deployment plan, coordinated with national plans, shall be established by the Commission in consultation with the Member States.”;

7)

Article 11 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

the following paragraph shall be inserted:

“3b. The inland ports of the network equipped with transhipment facilities for intermodal transport or with an annual freight traffic volume of at least 500 000 tonnes are shown in Annex I.”;

(b)

paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:

“4. The network shall also include the traffic management infrastructure. This shall entail in particular the establishment of an interoperable, intelligent traffic and transport system known as the "River Information Services" intended to optimise the existing capacity and safety of the inland waterway network and to improve interoperability with other modes of transport.”;

8)

the following Article shall be inserted:

“Article 12a Motorways of the sea

1. The trans-European network of motorways of the sea is intended to concentrate flows of freight on sea-based logistical routes in such a way as to improve existing maritime links or to establish new viable, regular and frequent maritime links for the transport of goods between Member States so as to reduce road congestion and/or improve access to peripheral and island regions and States. Motorways of the sea should not exclude the combined transport of persons and goods, provided that freight is predominant.

2. The trans-European network of motorways of the sea shall consist of facilities and infrastructure concerning at least two ports in two different Member States. The facilities and infrastructure shall include elements, in at least one Member State, such as the port facilities, electronic logistics management systems, safety and security and administrative and customs procedures, as well as infrastructure for direct land and sea access, including ways of ensuring year-round navigability, in particular the availability of facilities for dredging and icebreakers for winter access.

3. Waterways or canals, as identified in Annex I, which link two European motorways of the sea, or two sections thereof, and make a substantial contribution to shortening sea routes, increasing efficiency and saving shipping time shall form part of the trans-European network of motorways of the sea.

4. The projects of common interest of the trans-European network of motorways of the sea shall be proposed by at least two Member States and shall be geared to actual needs. The projects proposed shall in general involve both the public and private sectors in accordance with procedures which, before aid granted from the national budgets can be supplemented, if necessary, by aid from the Community, provide for a tendering process in one of the following forms:

(a) a public call for tenders organised jointly by the Member States concerned, intended to establish new links from the category A port, as defined in Article 12(2), which they select in advance within each sea area, as referred to in project No 21 in Annex III;

(b) in so far as the location of the ports is comparable, a public call for tenders organised jointly by the Member States concerned and targeting consortia bringing together at least shipping companies and ports located in one of the sea areas, as referred to in project No 21 in Annex III.

5. The projects of common interest of the trans-European network of motorways of the sea:

• shall focus on the facilities and infrastructure which make up the network of motorways of the sea,

• may include, without prejudice to Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty, start-up aid if, as a result of the tendering process referred to in paragraph 4, public support is deemed necessary for the financial viability of the project. Start-up aid shall be limited to two years and shall be granted only in support of duly justified capital costs. The aid may not exceed the minimum estimated amount required to start up the links concerned. The aid may not lead to distortions of competition in the relevant markets contrary to the common interest,

• may also include activities which have wider benefits and are not linked to specific ports, such as making available facilities for ice-breaking and dredging operations, as well as information systems, including traffic management and electronic reporting systems.

6. The Commission shall, within three years, submit to the Committee referred to in Article 18 an initial list of specific projects of common interest, thereby putting the concept of the motorways of the sea into concrete form. This list shall also be communicated to the European Parliament.

7. The projects of common interest of the trans-European network of motorways of the sea shall be submitted to the Commission for approval”;

9)

the following paragraph shall be added to Article 13:

“3. International and Community connecting points shall be gradually linked to the high-speed lines of the rail network, where appropriate. The network shall include the infrastructures and the facilities which permit the integration of air and rail transport services and, where appropriate, maritime transport services.”;

10)

the following Section shall be inserted:

“SECTION 10a U.K. COORDINATION BETWEEN MEMBER STATES

Article 17a European Coordinator

1. In order to facilitate the coordinated implementation of certain projects, in particular cross-border projects or sections of cross-border projects included among the projects declared to be of European interest referred to in Article 19a, the Commission may designate, in agreement with the Member States concerned, and after having consulted the European Parliament, a person called the "European Coordinator". The European Coordinator shall act in the name of and on behalf of the Commission. The remit of the European Coordinator shall normally relate to a single project, especially in the case of a cross-border project, but may, if necessary, be extended to cover the whole of a major axis. The European Coordinator shall draw up together with the Member States concerned a work plan for his/her activities.

2. The European Coordinator shall be chosen, in particular, on the basis of his/her experience of European institutions and knowledge of issues relating to the financing and the socio-economic and environmental evaluation of major projects.

3. The Commission decision designating the European Coordinator shall specify how he/she is to perform the tasks referred to in paragraph 5.

4. The Member States concerned shall cooperate with the European Coordinator and give him/her the information required to perform the tasks referred to in paragraph 5.

5. The European Coordinator shall:

(a) promote, in cooperation with the Member States concerned, joint methods for the evaluation of projects and, where appropriate, advise project promoters on the financial package for the projects;

(b) draw up a report every year for the European Parliament, the Commission and the Member States concerned on progress achieved in the implementation of the project(s) for which he/she is responsible, new regulatory or other developments which could affect the characteristics of the projects and any difficulties and obstacles which may result in a significant delay in relation to the dates indicated in Annex III;

(c) consult, together with the Member States concerned, regional and local authorities, operators, transport users, and representatives of civil society with a view to gaining fuller knowledge of the demand for transport services, the possibilities of investment funding and the type of services that must be provided in order to facilitate access to such funding.

6. Without prejudice to the applicable procedures laid down in Community and national law, the Commission may request the opinion of the European Coordinator when examining applications for Community funding for projects or groups of projects for which the European Coordinator is responsible.”;

11)

Article 18 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

the title shall be replaced by the following:

“Committee for monitoring guidelines and the exchange of information”;

(b)

Paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following:

“ 1. The Member States shall provide the Commission with abstracts of national plans and programmes which they are drawing up with a view to development of the trans-European transport network, in particular in relation to the projects declared to be of European interest referred to in Article 19a. Once adopted, the Member States shall send the national plans and programmes to the Commission for information.”;

(c)

Paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

“3. The Commission shall report every two years to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the implementation of the guidelines described in this Decision. The Committee set up under paragraph 2 shall assist the Commission with drawing up the report. The report shall be accompanied where necessary by legislative proposals to revise the guidelines; these legislative proposals may, if necessary, include amendments to the list of priority projects in Annex III or the addition to that list of projects that are in conformity with Article 19(1). The revision shall have particular regard to projects that contribute to the territorial cohesion of the European Union in accordance with Article 19(l)(e).”;

12)

Article 19 shall be replaced by the following:

“Article 19 Priority projects

1. The priority projects shall be projects of common interest referred to in Article 7 where examination confirms that they:

(a) are intended to eliminate a bottleneck or complete a missing link on a major route of the trans-European network, in particular projects which are cross-border projects, cross natural barriers or have a cross-border section;

(b) are on such a scale that long-term planning at European level will help signfiicantly;

(c) present, overall, potential socio-economic net benefits and other socio-economic advantages;

(d) significantly improve the mobility of goods and persons between Member States and thus also contribute to the interoperability of national networks;

(e) contribute to the territorial cohesion of the European Union by integrating the networks of the new Member States and improving connections with the peripheral and island regions;

(f) contribute to the sustainable development of transport by improving safety and reducing environmental damage caused by transport, in particular by promoting a modal shift towards railways, intermodal transport, inland waterways and maritime transport;

(g) demonstrate commitment on the part of the Member States concerned to carrying out studies and evaluation procedures in time to complete the work in accordance with a date agreed in advance, based upon national plans or any other equivalent document relating to the project in question.

2. The priority projects on which work is due to start before 2010, the sections thereof and the dates agreed for completing the work referred to in paragraph 1(g) are set out in Annex III.

3. By 2010 the Commission shall draft a progress report and, if necessary, propose amendments to the list of priority projects identified in Annex III in line with paragraph 1.”;

13)

the following Articles shall be inserted:

“Article 19a Declaration of European interest

1. The priority projects identified in Annex III are declared to be of European interest. This declaration is made solely in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Treaty and in the legal acts based thereon.

2. Without prejudice to the legal basis of the Community financial instrument in question:

(a) when submitting their projects under the Cohesion Fund, in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1164/94(5), the Member States shall give appropriate priority to the projects declared to be of European interest;

(b) when submitting their projects under the budget for the trans-European networks, in accordance with Articles 9 and 10 of Regulation (EC) No 2236/95(6), the Member States shall give appropriate priority to the projects declared to be of European interest;

(c) the Commission shall encourage the Member States to take into account the projects declared to be of European interest when planning the programming of the Structural Funds, in particular in regions covered by Objective 1, having regard to national transport plans falling within the scope of existing Community support frameworks;

(d) the Commission shall ensure that the countries qualifying for the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession give appropriate priority, when submitting their projects under that instrument in accordance with Articles 2 and 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1267/1999(7), to the projects declared to be of European interest.

3. When forecasting its financial needs, the Commission shall give appropriate priority to the projects declared to be of European interest.

4. In the event of a significant delay, in relation to the deadline of 2010, in starting work on one of the projects declared to be of European interest, the Commission shall ask the Member States concerned to give the reasons for the delay within three months. On the basis of the reply given, the Commission shall consult all the Member States concerned in order to solve the problem which has led to the delay.

The Commission may, in consultation with the Committee set up under Article 18(2), and as part of its active monitoring of the implementation of the project declared to be of European interest and having due regard to the principle of proportionality, decide to adopt appropriate measures. The Member States concerned shall be given the opportunity to submit observations on such measures before their adoption.

The European Parliament shall be informed immediately of any measure taken.

In adopting these measures, the Commission shall take due account of the share of responsibility for the delay of each Member States concerned and shall refrain from taking measures that would affect the realisation of the project in Member States not responsible for the delay.

5. In the event that a project declared to be of European interest is not substantially completed within a reasonable period of time after the expected date of its completion indicated in Annex III, and all Member States concerned are responsible for the delay, the Commission shall review the project, in accordance with the procedure referred to in paragraph 4, with a view to withdrawing its classification as a project declared to be of European interest by means of the revision procedure referred to in Article 18(3). The Commission shall, in any event, review the project at the end of a period of fifteen years after it has been declared to be of European interest within the meaning of this Decision.

6. Five years after completion of a project declared to be of European interest or of one of the sections thereof, the Member States concerned shall carry out an assessment of its socio-economic impact and its impact on the environment, including its impact on trade and the free movement of persons and goods between Member States, on territorial cohesion and on sustainable development. Member States shall inform the Commission of the results of this assessment.

7. Where a project declared to be of European interest includes a cross-border section which is technically and financially indivisible, the Member States concerned shall coordinate their procedures for assessing the socio-economic effects thereof and use their best endeavours to conduct a transnational enquiry prior to granting construction permission and within the existing framework.

8. Other sections of projects of European interest will be coordinated bilaterally or multilaterally by the Member States on a case by case basis.

9. The coordinated actions or transnational enquiries referred to in paragraph 7 shall apply without prejudice to the obligations imposed by the Community legislation on environmental protection, and particularly those relating to environmental impact assessment. The Member States concerned shall inform the Commission when such coordinated actions or transnational enquiries are launched and of the results. The Commission shall include that information in the report referred to in Article 18(3).

Article 19b Cross-border sections

In the context of certain priority projects, cross-border sections between two Member States, including motorways of the sea, shall be identified by the Member States on the basis of criteria defined by the Committee set up under Article 18(2) and notified to the Commission. These will be, notably, sections which are technically and financially indivisible or to which the Member States concerned commit themselves jointly and for which they put in place a common structure.”;

14)

Articles 20 and 21 shall be deleted.

15)

The Annexes shall be amended as follows:

1.

In Annex I, sections 2, 3, 4 and 6 and the attached maps shall be replaced as indicated in Annex I to this Decision.

2.

In Annex III:

(a)

the title shall be replaced by the following: "Priority projects on which work is due to start before 2010";

(b)

the content shall be replaced by the text set out in Annex II to this Decision.

Article 2 U.K.

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 3 U.K.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Strasbourg, 29 April 2004.

For the European Parliament

The President

P. Cox

For the Council

The President

M. McDowell