The Council common position incorporates many of the amendments adopted by the European Parliament and included in the Commission's amended proposal, the most important being:
- the reference to priority for links between island, landlocked and peripheral regions and central regions in the Community;
- the fact that projects funded by regional and local authorities are eligible on the same terms as projects funded by the Member States;
- the eligibility of projects funded by companies running public services (agencies) or public interest services;
- the need to strengthen the involvement of private capital in funding trans-European networks;
- the extended cover provided by loan guarantee fees to financial institutions other than the European Investment Fund;
- the idea of involving the EIB in evaluating and monitoring projects;
- the coordination between the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund and the EIB;
- the inclusion of environmental impact in the project selection criteria;
- the definition of "study" as including preparatory, feasibility and evaluation studies as other technical support measures;
- the stronger provisions on coordination, management and financial control;
- the introduction of a transitional clause to allow certain projects to be funded in the absence of the guidelines referred to in Article 129C. The application of this clause is limited solely to specific projects of common interest which come under the guidelines pending before the Council and the European Parliament and which warrant immediate financial intervention by the Community�