[Article] EU Commission proposes to triple aid for infrastructure

Victor

Looks like the builders are getting another ˆ2bn. :rolleyes:

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/1596809?view=Eircomnet

EU Commission proposes to triple aid for infrastructure
From:ireland.com
Thursday, 2nd October, 2003

The European Commission has unveiled a ˆ220 billion investment plan for transport and research projects, including improved road and rail links between Cork, Dublin and Belfast.

A "motorway of the sea" between Ireland and Spain is also included.

The Commission wants to increase the EU contribution to the cost of the projects from 10 per cent to 30 per cent and to make ˆ100 billion available in loans from the European Investment Bank.

A spokesman for the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, welcomed the proposal, which could reduce by more than ˆ2 billion the cost to the State of improving the road and rail network.

"It is extremely welcome and encouraging that these key projects are included but there is some disappointment that the road/rail corridor between Dublin and the west of Ireland failed to make it on to the list," he said.

Yesterday's proposals may not be enough, however, to ease the strain placed on the State's finances by infrastructure projects. The Government would like the cost of such projects to be deducted from the calculation of its budget deficit under eurozone rules but these proposals do not involve such a change.

Work has already begun on improving road and rail links between Cork, Dublin and Belfast, which form part of the National Development Plan. These links, along with the corridor between Dublin and the west, were identified as priorities by an EU report on the trans-European transport network earlier this year.

The report also recommended the creation of a "motorway of the sea" between the Irish Sea and the Iberian peninsula, aimed at moving freight traffic from land to sea.

The plan, which is among the projects backed by the Commission yesterday, would reduce customs bureaucracy, improve port facilities and encourage the emergence of new ferry companies.

Announcing the plan yesterday, the president of the Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, said that it could boost economic growth in Europe by up to 1 per cent and could create 400,000 new jobs a year. "Decisions must be taken quickly. If we continue to take seriously our commitment to turn the European Union into the most competitive, knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010, we cannot waste a single month waiting for a miracle to happen," he said.

EU leaders will discuss the initiative when they meet in Brussels later this month but finance ministries in some European capitals signalled yesterday that the plan was unlikely to receive support.

Member-states which are net contributors to the EU budget are especially wary of the proposal to triple the level of direct EU aid to the projects. Environmentalists criticised the inclusion of a project to build a bridge between Sicily and mainland Italy, which they believe would hurt wildlife in the region.

The Green group in the European Parliament criticised as self-serving the Commission's inclusion of an improved rail link between Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, the three seats of the EU institutions.

Qadhafi

the sea motorway thing

Victor

Originally posted by Qadhafi
the sea motorway thing

Link? Article? Quote?

embraer170

Anyone have links to something substantial on the "€220 billion investment for transport" rather than poorly written articles? Sounds rather interesting, would be nice to see money going elsewhere than the CAP. :ninja:

embraer170

Did a search found the following:

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1322|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=

http://europa.eu.int/comm/ten/transport/revision/revision_1692_96_en.htm

A Rail/road bridge over the Strait of Messina-Palermo! :rolleyes:

[Broken link fixed - Victor]

Victor

http://www.thepost.ie/web/DocumentView/did-963779962-pageUrl--2FThe-Newspaper-2FSundays-Paper-2FNews-2FWorld-2FAll-World.asp

€220bn boost for EU economy
05/10/03 00:00
By Ann Cahill

Initiatives to boost Europe's under performing economy were fleshed out by European Commission President Romano Prodi in Brussels last week.

He outlined 29 Trans European Networks, including transport and broadband projects requiring a €220 billion investment. These included road, rail and sea links in Ireland.

The most controversial aspect of his proposal was that the usual 10 per cent contribution from the European Union be increased to 30 per cent, which would save the Irish government an estimated €2 billion on its National Development Plan.

Apart from the EU budget, funding will come from European Investment Bank loans, the private sector and from countries' own resources. Prodi estimates the programme would boost growth across the EU by at least 0.5 per cent and create 400,000 jobs.

However, Prodi had barely finished outlining his proposals to Commissioners last Wednesday before rumblings of disagreement to the increased EU funding were heard mainly from member states such as Sweden and the Netherlands. They are the largest net contributors as a percentage of their GDP to the EU's €92 billion budget. The plan will be debated by government leaders at their summit in mid December.

The Internal Market Commissioner, Frits Bolkestein, is also experiencing problems with his task to create more wealth and jobs by opening up the EU's internal market.

Well known as a free market supporter, the Dutch Commissioner said that, since the removal of internal frontiers ten years ago, the internal market has created at least 2.5 million extra jobs and added €900 billion to our prosperity - an average of almost €6,000 per household.

But several important indicators concerning the Internal Market have begun to flash red - intra-EU trade has slowed over the last few years with third country trade now growing much faster, while price convergence has stalled since 1999.

Bolkestein blames the increasing failure of member states to adopt directives into national legislation. Even when countries adopt measures, they are increasingly failing to apply them properly, as evidenced by the increase in infringement cases - up from 700 in 1992 to 1,600 this year - Bolkestein said.

He warned that fragmentation of the internal market is now a real possibility, and is preparing to tackle the obstacles national authorities have devised to protect their own industries. These include duplicate testing and certification requirements, lack of European standards, denials of mutual recognition and overzealous trading standards officials in the member states. These obstacles hit SMEs particularly hard and are far reaching as trade in goods still represents more than 80 per cent of intra-EU trade, he said.