• Commission Claims Sustainability In Tens Funding List

    The Commission has said which trans-European network transport projects will qualify for funding out of the TEN-T budget. It advertised the announcement as a boost for sustainable transport, but there are environmental questions hanging over many of the schemes.

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    With much less money available for TEN-T funding than the transport directorate wanted, the Commission says it is giving priority to rail and inland waterways schemes, plus cross-border projects. Yet many of the schemes due for funding have not submitted a proper environmental impact assessment(EIA).

    Two transalpine crossings – the Brenner tunnel that will form part of the Berlin-Sicily rail link, and the Mont Cenis tunnel that is part of the Lyon-Ukraine rail line – are among the most controversial schemes, as are the Fehmarn Belt road/rail bridge connecting Denmark and Germany, and Lisbon’s new airport.

    The Commission points out that 74.2% of its TEN-T spending for 2007 will be on rail and 11% on inland waterways, thereby making EU funding a boost for sustainability.

    Yet when MEPs questioned the EU transport commissioner Jacques Barrot last month, they said some of the projects listed for approval do not have EIAs, so claims of sustainability were at best premature.

    Among the projects that will get TEN-T funding are the Paris-Bratislava and south-west Europe high-speed rail links, and the Seine-Scheldt inland waterway. Among those getting little or no funding this time are the Greece-Bulgaria-Romania and Gdansk-Vienna motorways, although these will probably qualify for money from the EU’s Cohesion Fund.

    This news story is taken from the December 2007 edition of T&E Bulletin.