Two recommendations on the new European proposals for the development of TEN-T Corridors
PRESS RELEASE
New European Proposals For TEN-T Corridor Development
Two recommendations from Eurispes
The Eurispes Observatory on Infrastructures, Transport and Logistics, coordinated by Luca Danese, in a note by engineer Giampaolo Basoli, provides an overview of the path towards the definition of the new European Network and Corridors, in which lItaly plays a fundamental role as the central Mediterranean outlet.
This is a necessary turning point in the definition of a European and centralised infrastructure project, but it presents weaknesses that, if not addressed, risk jeopardising the proper functioning of the entire modifying system.
Accordingly, Eurispes highlights two critical points that must be addressed by the European Commission and, in particular, by Italy within the negotiations that will be closed in 2024.
First of all, the new EU Regulation under negotiation outlines a static vision of the development policy of the TEN-T networks, which accepts the proposals of the Member States to allow the technical-functional improvements resulting from the alignment of the Corridors, but at the same time does not identify the new priorities resulting from the new set-up of trade relations between the internal market and the Maghreb partner countries or the Asian countries beyond Suez and the Far East. As a matter of fact, the Commission is focusing its priority actions on the Corridors to and from Northern European and Baltic countries in the perspective of a new geopolitical balance that sees an increasing alignment with Ukraine and the entry of Balkan countries into the EU.
Moreover, the Commission does not consider Mediterranean transport policies, which are already underway with the maritime corridors of the “Motorways of the Sea” (MoS) project, as a priority, while it would be appropriate, precisely in the perspective of a new centrality of the Mediterranean, to concentrate on the integration of corridors and land infrastructures with the European ports of the Core and Comprehensive Network. The MoS, for instance, represented a priority project of the TEN-T guidelines concretised in the European Regulation supporting the Marco Polo programme (€400 million in the 2001-2008 period), which relaunched a strong network of Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax maritime connections between Mediterranean ports. The Commission also proposed to replace and integrate the Motorways of the Sea into a new concept of a “European Maritime Space” with less restrictive constraints on the ports involved in the maritime routes. This underlines the lack of a project for the Mediterranean maritime transport development, which is not considered strategic and a priority while a strong support for European logistics, based on the strengthening of multimodal platforms to improve maritime intermodality along priority rail corridors, would be appropriate. In this context, it would be appropriate for Spain to launch a joint initiative among EU countries during its six-month presidency to relaunch a new policy to support maritime transport in the Mediterranean, also to counter competition with Northern European ports.
Lastly, the revision of the TEN-T trans-European networks should be an opportunity to promote an Italian initiative at European level aimed at including in the new regulation more rigorous technical and construction standards to enable infrastructure projects to cope with and sustain risks from climatic events, reduce the maintenance and management costs of engineering works, and extend the economic value of transport infrastructure over time.
The note can be downloaded at the following link
bit.ly/3QoFfPx