Decision No 661/2010/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

SECTION 12 COMMON PROVISIONS

Article 20 National plans and programmes

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 Articles 24 to 27. Once adopted, the Member States shall send the national plans and programmes to the Commission for information.

Article 21 Committee for monitoring the guidelines and exchanging information

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee for monitoring the guidelines and exchanging information, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Committee’, made up of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a representative of the Commission.

2. The Committee shall exchange information on the plans and programmes notified by Member States and may consider any question relating to the development of the trans-European transport network.

Article 22 Report

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 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 23(1). The revision shall have particular regard to projects that contribute to the territorial cohesion of the Union in accordance with Article 23(1)(e).

Article 23 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 contributes significant added value;

(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 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 was 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.

Article 24 Declaration of European interest

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 Treaties and in the legal acts based thereon.

Article 25 Projects declared to be of European interest

1. Without prejudice to the legal basis of the Union financial instrument in question, the Member States:

(a) when submitting their projects under the Cohesion Fund, in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1084/2006 of 11 July 2006 establishing a Cohesion Fund(1), 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 5 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 680/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of the trans-European transport and energy networks(2), shall give appropriate priority to the projects declared to be of European interest.

2. Without prejudice to the legal basis of the Union financial instrument in question, the Commission:

(a) 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 the ‘Convergence’ Objective, having regard to national transport plans falling within the scope of existing Union support frameworks;

(b) shall ensure that the countries qualifying for the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) give appropriate priority, when submitting their projects under that instrument in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 of 17 July 2006 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)(3), 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.

Article 26 Delay in completion of projects declared to be of European interest

1. 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 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 State concerned and shall refrain from taking measures that would affect the realisation of the project in Member States not responsible for the delay.

2. 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 1, 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 the third paragraph of Article 22.

The Commission shall, in any event, review the project at the end of a period of 15 years after it has been declared to be of European interest within the meaning of this Decision.

Article 27 Socio-economic impact and environmental impact assessment

1. 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.

2. 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.

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

4. The coordinated actions or transnational enquiries referred to in paragraph 2 shall apply without prejudice to the obligations imposed by the Union 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 22.

Article 28 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 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.

Article 29 Repeal

Decision No 1692/96/EC is repealed.

References to the repealed Decision shall be construed as references to this Decision and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table set out in Annex V.

Article 30 Entry into force

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

Article 31 Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1)

OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 79.

(2)

OJ L 162, 22.6.2007, p. 1.

(3)

OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 82.