The committee adopted the report by Mario MAURO (EPP-ED, IT) amending the proposal under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure:
- the criteria for eligibility should include compliance with Community policies and laws on health protection, sustainable development and multimodal linkage of networks including inland, coastal and maritime navigation, inland waterways and short sea shipping;
- Member States should ensure that the regions concerned have adequate access to the network;
- projects to be given priority should include those which "contribute to the elimination of bottlenecks and to an increase in long-distance transport connections, particularly in cross-border railway transport";
- "projects crossing natural barriers" should be included among the priority projects eligible for the maximum grant rate of 50%, "provided that the process of their implementation has begun" before 2010;
- the committee deleted Article 8(3) of the proposal which would not have allowed cofinancing for sections of projects which already receive other Community financing. MEPs argued that this provision could hinder the completion of projects which are eligible for both the TENS and the Structural Funds;
- in line with Parliament's resolution of 8 June 2005, the committee said that the financial reference amount for 2007-2013 should be EUR 20 490 million, (as opposed to the Commission's proposal of EUR 20 690 million), of which EUR 140 million should be earmarked for energy rather than EUR 340 million. The original allocation of EUR 20 350 million to transport was therefore left unchanged;
- the multi-annual programme should be adopted under the codecision procedure, rather than under the comitology procedure as proposed. The annual programmes (which will be adopted under comitology procedure) should be submitted to Parliament in good time before their adoption so that Parliament could deliver its opinion where appropriate;
- the Commission should retain a right of initiative as regards inspections of project sites, given its budgetary responsibility.
- lastly, the committee adopted a number of amendments seeking to ensure greater democratic accountability and transparency.