The plenary of the European Parliament definitively approved, yesterday in Strasbourg, with 565 votes in favour, 37 votes against and 29 abstentions, the regulation on guidelines for the development of trans-European transport networks (Ten-T).
The regulation updates plans for the network of railways, roads, inland waterways and short-sea shipping routes connected through ports and terminals across the EU, aims to eliminate bottlenecks and fill missing links, and provides for the completion by 2030 of the main projects (roads, railways, bridges and tunnels) concerning the “core network” of Ten-T.
According to the regulation, among the Italian projects that could obtain, if approved, European funding within the Ten-T networks, include, among others, the bridge over the Strait of Messina And the high-speed railway routes Milan – Treviglio – Verona and Bologna – Ancona – Pescara – Foggia.
Current trans-European transport (TEN-T) projects already include connections such as the Baltica railway between Helsinki and Warsaw, the Brenner base tunnel connecting Austria and Italy, the Lisbon – Madrid high-speed railway line.
By the end of 2030, the railways of the Ten-T core network will have to be all electrified, provide a speed of 100 km/h for freight transport, and allow the crossing of internal EU borders in less than 25 minutes on average .
A minimum speed of 160 km/h must become the norm on passenger trains by the end of 2040.
Major European airports (with over 12 million passengers per year) will be connected to the trans-European rail network.
To ensure better rest conditions for truck drivers, safe and protected parking spaces will need to be set up along main EU roads at least every 150 km.
Because of the war in Ukraine, they will be transport infrastructure projects with Russia and Belarus suspendedAnd ties with Ukraine and Moldova were strengthened instead.
In case of involvement of third-country companies in major Ten-T projects, Member States will have to inform the European Commission of the measures taken to limit any security risk.
“The regulation, if implemented as intended, will allow rail transport to compete with road transport.
It is now the Commission’s responsibility to ensure that Member States fulfill their duties, and to put the necessary pressure on them if they do not act accordingly,” noted rapporteur Barbara Thaler (EPP).
Once formally adopted by the EU Council, the regulation will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
