Trans-European transport network: progress and implementation of the 14 Essen projects, December 1994. 1998 report

The European Commission submitted its "1997 annual report on trans-European networks (TENs)" to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions pursuant to article 16 of Regulation 2236/95/EC on financial assistance for trans-European networks. Following an assessment of the main developments in TENs in 1997, the Commission document emphasises that significant progress has been made in several TEN projects in all three sectors and highlighted the following points: a) Legal aspects: - amendment of article 129 C (1) and 129 D of the Treaty of Amsterdam; - telecommunications guidelines adopted; - list of TEN projects of common interest in the energy sector and their specifications updated; - Commission proposal to extend the programme on the interchange of data between administrations (IDA); - Commission proposal to amend the guidelines on TENs in the transport sector in order to include sea ports, inland ports and intermodal terminals. b) Funding: - publication of the Agenda 2000 confirming the priority nature of TEN funding for the next financial period; - recommendations by the High Level Group on measures to facilitate public/private partnerships within the framework of projects in the transport sector; - Commission communications concerning the general implementation of recommendations on aspects relating to competition; - examination of EIB action to support TENs; - recommendation that each "priority" transport project keep to a suitable timetable and financial plan. c) Enlargement and external relations: - Agenda 2000 emphasised the importance of TENs in creating new links with applicant countries; - the third pan-European conference on transport (Helsinki) allowed the addition of an extra corridor and four transport zones, the strengthening of multi-modality and the importance of intelligent transport systems; - publication of two communications concerning links between transport and energy systems in the European Union and neighbouring countries; - the transport infrastructure needs assessment (TINA) has reached cruising speed with the implementation of the technical secretariat in Vienna.�