Markkula on TEN-T: "Partnering with private investors can mobilise fresh capital, public benefits remain priority" - Main contents

Source: Committee of the Regions (CoR) i, published on Tuesday, June 23 2015.

Speaking on behalf of EU regions and cities at TEN-T Days 2015, the President of the Committee of the Regions underlined the strategic role innovative financial instruments can play for the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network, especially with regards to its core corridors. "Involving private investors by leveraging public resources can mobilise fresh capitals and raise the quality of projects. But high leverage is not an objective in itself, public benefit must be the main driving force" he argued.

The CoR President took part in the opening session together with EU Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc i, the European Investment Bank President, Werner Hoyer and the Latvian Minister of transport, Anrijs Matiss. During the roundtable with European transport ministers, experts and policy practitioners, Mr. Markkula stressed that: "In a phase of sharp drop of public resources, the European Fund for Strategic Investment, by complementing the Structural and Investment Funds and the Connecting Europe Facility , is an effective way of achieving more with less public spending", he said adding that: "It should be also ensured that costs on the final beneficiaries are not exaggerated and synergies between different financing instruments help avoid overlaps, competition and inefficiencies."

President Markkula highlighted that regions and cities will decisively contribute to the timely implementation of TEN-T projects: "We should use our competences on the ground in key areas such as spatial planning, cross-border cooperation, and environmental protection in order to encourage more synergies in all dimensions of smart cities and regions while ensuring a strategic consistency to prevent bottlenecks and bureaucratic hurdles".

In this respect, EU Commissioner Violeta Bulc, said: "We must now join forces to make the trans-European transport network a reality. The basis for our future progress is the implementation of the work plans, including key cross-border projects. I am counting on all actors - national and regional, public and private, to make the best use of our instruments such as Connecting Europe Facility and the new European Fund for Strategic Investments. In this respect, the recommendations made in the Christophersen - Bodewig - Secchi report play a vital role in attracting the necessary private investment."

With regards to this latter need, President Markkula asked the European Commission to support capacity building among regional and local administrations and a governance model where all levels contribute to ensure effective coordination between the EU, national and local strategies for investment. For this reason the CoR wishes to see local and regional authorities being substantially associated with the work of the Corridor Forums - new consultative bodies established to assist European Coordinators in bringing forward corridors' work plans.