The Council took note of a report presented by the presidency on the state of play on new guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). The Council's preparatory bodies have only recently started to discuss the guidelines proposed by the Commission. While Member States generally support the proposal to introduce a double-layer structure distinguishing between a core network to be put into place as a priority and a comprehensive network, other aspects of the proposed guidelines will need further discussion.
Member States' main concerns are as follows:
· the budgetary consequences are considered problematic by several Member States, especially as regards the costs for meeting the requirements set out in the guidelines for the different modes of transport, in particular rail transport;
· several delegations underscored the need to ensure Member States' right to decide on projects to be carried out on their territory;
· while the core network corridor concept set out in the proposal was supported by several Member States, several other delegations were critical or pointed to the need for clarification;
· the governance of the corridors was mentioned as an important issue for further discussion, and the need to avoid an increase in the administrative burden was underlined.
Other issues raised include the binding deadlines proposed by the Commission for setting up the core and the comprehensive networks, and the Commission's decision to give the guidelines the legal form of a regulation, which is directly addressed to all potential stakeholders, including regional and local authorities and private bodies, rather than a decision addressed only to the Member States, as is the case for the guidelines currently in force.
While the core network corridor concept set out in the proposal was supported by several Member States, several other delegations were critical or pointed to the need for clarification.
Several Member States have criticized the Commission’s corridor approach because this issue is also covered by the proposal on the Connecting Europe Facility Regulation, which would create legal uncertainty, and because this approach does not respect the principle of subsidiarity.
Several Member States have expressed their reservations regarding the Commission’s proposal to strengthen the role of the European Coordinators with respect to the implementation of the core network through core network corridors and the introduction of the concept of corridor platforms. Several Member States have also indicated the need to avoid the unnecessary increase of administrative structures and related costs.
Several Member States also stressed the importance of transport connections with neighbouring non-EU countries.
Lastly, as regards the delegated acts, a large majority of Member States have indicated that they favour a cautious approach. They consider that the power to adopt delegated acts should be conferred to the Commission just for a limited period, such as five years, from the date of entry into force of the Regulation.