EU risking billions of euros on ‘unviable transport projects’
T&E has said the Commission is risking large sums of money being spent on transport projects that have not been properly thought through.
[mailchimp_signup][/mailchimp_signup]
The comment came after the Commission last month proposed that the EU could guarantee part of the debt of priority cross-border transport infrastructure projects. The proposal is part of efforts to stimulate private investment in transport projects belong to the trans-European network (TEN).
T&E director Jos Dings said: “Private investment tends to sniff out viable investments, so reducing the risks to private capital runs the risk of fast-tracking unviable projects.”
T&E’s policy officer Markus Liechti said the billions of euros being sought for transport projects made it more important than ever to ensure projects were properly assessed, yet the cost/benefit reports into such schemes were still kept secret. “We need to see more double-checks and no more blank cheques,” he said.
A draft regulation on how to finance the transport TENs is currently making its way through the EU legislative process, with a final decision expected in the summer of 2006.
This news story is taken from the April 2005 edition of T&E Bulletin.
Related Articles
View All
Majority of Europeans back reducing fossil fuel imports to make Europe safer, polling shows
YouGov poll findings commissioned by E3G, T&E and the Electrification Alliance
150 new power plants: the cost of balancing the grid if the EU slashes EV targets
Scaling back the EU’s electric car targets makes the transition to renewables far more expensive to achieve.
Weakening CO₂ standards undermines the Vehicle-to-Grid potential of EVs
A new report by Fraunhofer ISI examines the diminished benefits of V2G for Europe's electricity system if the EU weakens its car CO2 targets.