Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network (3) has been substantially amended several times (4). Since further amendments are to be made, it should be recast in the interests of clarity.
(2)
The establishment and development of trans-European networks contribute to the attainment of major Union objectives, such as the smooth functioning of the internal market and the strengthening of economic and social cohesion.
(3)
The establishment and development of trans-European transport networks throughout the territory of the Union also have the specific objectives of ensuring the sustainable mobility of persons and goods under the best possible social, environmental and safety conditions and integrating all modes of transport, taking account of their comparative advantages. Job creation is one of the possible spin-offs of the trans-European network.
(4)
Growth in traffic, in particular due to the growing share in heavy goods vehicles, has resulted in increased congestion and bottlenecks on international transport corridors. In order to ensure international mobility of goods and passengers, it is therefore necessary to optimise the capacity of the trans-European transport network.
(5)
Short distance shipping may, inter alia, help to relieve congestion on inland transport routes.
(6)
Network integration at European level can only be developed progressively by interlinking different modes of transport with a view to making better use of the inherent advantages of each.
(7)
Interconnection points including seaports, inland ports and intermodal terminals are a precondition for the integration of the different transport modes in a multimodal network.
(8)
Since the objectives of the action to be taken, and in particular the establishment of the broad outlines and priorities in the field of trans-European transport networks cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the need for coordination of these objectives, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, the present decision does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.
(9)
It is necessary to identify projects of common interest which contribute to the achievement of those objectives and which correspond to the priorities of the action which have thus been established. Only projects which are potentially economically viable should be taken into account.
(10)
There is a need for declaring priority projects to be of European interest, for concentrating Union financing on such projects and for introducing mechanisms to encourage coordination between Member States in order to facilitate completion of the projects within the desired timetable.
(11)
In accordance with Article 170 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the trans-European network policy should help to strengthen economic and social cohesion within the Union. In order to achieve this objective, efforts should be made to maximise consistency between the Union guidelines for the trans-European transport network and the programming of the relevant financial instruments available at Union level.
(12)
A posteriori evaluation of the priority projects should facilitate future revisions of the guidelines and of the list of priority projects and should help improve the a priori evaluation methods practised by the Member States.
(13)
Authorisation for certain public and private projects likely to have a significant environmental impact should be granted only after prior assessment of that potential impact, in compliance with existing Union rules.
(14)
Environmental protection requirements should be integrated into the definition and implementation of Union policy in the field of the trans-European networks in accordance with Article 11 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This entails the promotion as a priority of infrastructure for transport modes that cause less damage to the environment, namely rail transport, short sea shipping and inland waterways shipping.
(15)
Environmental assessment pursuant to Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (5) will in the future be carried out for all plans and programmes leading to projects of common interest. Funding for transport infrastructure should also be conditional on compliance with the provisions of Union environmental legislation, in particular Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (6), Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (7) and Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (codified version) (8).
(16)
Within the general objective of ensuring the sustainable mobility of persons and goods, mechanisms should be put in place to support the development of motorways of the sea between Member States in order to reduce road congestion and/or improve access to peripheral and island regions and States. Establishment of such mechanisms, backed up, inter alia, by tendering procedures, should be transparent and geared to needs and should in no way prejudice the Union rules on competition or on public procurement.
(17)
Closer coordination between the States involved in projects on the same route may be necessary to improve the return on investments and to make it easier to synchronise investments and to put together a funding package.
(18)
The Commission should present every two years a report on the implementation of this Decision and by 2010 the Commission should draft a progress report on the priority projects and, if necessary, propose amendments to the list of priority projects.
(19)
A Committee should be empowered, in particular, to assist the Commission when it examines the implementation and development of the guidelines laid down by this Decision.
(20)
In the interests of clarity, Annex I of Decision No 1692/96/EC should be replaced with a new Annex containing the maps concerning all of the Member States; this would ensure that the maps already contained in that Decision as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1791/2006 (9) are supplemented by those contained in the 2003 Act of Accession. Moreover the target date for the plan is 2020 for all of the Member States,
