Combined goods transport: financial assistance to action pilots PACT

OBJECTIVE: to give a more structured form to the experimental measures it launched in June 1992 with the PACT programme (Pilot Actions for Combined Transport) to promote combined transport. COMMUNITY MEASURE: Council Regulation 2196/98/EC concerning the granting of Community financial assistance for actions of an innovative nature to promote combined transport. SUBSTANCE: Like the PACT programme, the regulation covers a five-year period (1997-2001). The financial reference amount for the five years is ECU 35 million. The regulation lays down conditions, rules and procedures for granting Community financial support to innovative projects promoting increased use of combined transport and encouraging transfer of traffic from roads to more environmentally friendly modes of transport by: - increasing the competitiveness of combined transport in relation to road haulage door-to-door; - promoting the use of advanced technology in the combined transport sector; - improving the availability of combined transport services. The regulation gives priority to combined transport services on main routes on the territory of the Community, but also covers combined transport routes partly situated outside the Community. Measures should be taken in the interest of the common transport policy and should concern the territory of at least one Member State. Measures with regard to construction and refurbishment of the transport network infrastructure and technological research projects are excluded from the regulation's field of application. The regulation provides in particular: - for up to three years: (a) Community financial support limited to 50% of the total cost for feasibility studies in connection with a particular innovative project; (b) co-financing, limited to 30% of the total cost of innovative measures; - improvement of procedures for submitting, selecting, monitoring and evaluating projects; - financial control of projects; - dissemination of the results of each project. ENTRY INTO FORCE: 14/10/1998 �