The European Union will extend 4 European transport corridors of the TEN-T network to Moldova and Ukraine.
According to the European Council, this is envisaged by the revised Regulation on the EU guidelines for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), a preliminary agreement on which was reached by negotiators from the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. The new legislation aims to create a reliable, seamless and high-quality transport network that provides sustainable connectivity across Europe without physical disruptions, bottlenecks and missing links. Among other things, the revised Regulation establishes that the high-speed rail line between Budapest and Bucharest and between Porto and Vigo must be completed by 2040, and provides for the extension of 4 European transport corridors of the TEN-T network to Moldova and Ukraine. "Today's agreement is an important milestone towards improved and sustainable transport connectivity in Europe. The TEN-T network guidelines are a key EU transport policy instrument that will contribute greatly to strengthening EU cohesion and boosting growth and jobs," said Spanish Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Oscar Puente. He said the TEN-T network will contribute to the EU's objectives of sustainable mobility, the proper functioning of the internal market, and the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU. The network will be developed or upgraded step by step, with the new regulation setting clear deadlines for the completion of the three-layer TEN-T network: the core network should be completed by 2030, the new extended core network by 2040 and the integrated network by 2050. Following the provisional agreement, work on the revised regulation will continue at the technical level. Once this work is finalized, the presidency intends to transmit the text to the representatives of the Member States for endorsement. The legislative act will then have to undergo a thorough legal/linguistic review before being formally adopted by legislators and entering into force. The TEN-T is an EU-wide network of railroads, inland waterways, sea routes and roads. It connects 424 major European cities with ports, airports and rail terminals. When completed, the TEN-T will reduce travel times between these cities. For example, passengers will be able to travel by train from Copenhagen to Hamburg in 2.5 hours, rather than the 4.5 hours it takes today. The proposal to revise the rules was adopted by the European Commission on December 13, 2021 as part of the legislative package on efficient and sustainable mobility. The European Commission's proposal emphasized a new governance structure for TEN-T and multimodality policies by setting ambitious targets, in particular for the development of rail infrastructure. In response to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the European Commission adopted an amended proposal on July 27, 2022, making a number of changes to the original text. The revised proposal calls for harmonization of the TEN-T network by using the European gauge standard. It also aims to improve Ukraine's and Moldova's connectivity with the EU by extending the respective European transport corridors. As InfoMarket reported earlier, the European Commission has proposed to extend 4 transport corridors from the EU to Moldova and Ukraine. In particular, the European Commission proposed to amend the indicative maps of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) to extend the North-Baltic corridor through Lviv and Kyiv to Mariupol; the Baltic-Black Sea - Aegean corridor to extend through Lviv, Chernivtsi (Romania and Moldova) to Odessa, and the Baltic Sea - Adriatic Sea and Rhine - Danube corridors through Lviv. The extension of these transport corridors to Ukraine and Moldova is planned to connect both countries, their people and businesses more closely to the EU, as well as to support the rebuilding of Ukraine's transportation infrastructure after the end of the war. // 19.12.2023 - InfoMarket.
