Scope:

Regulation (EU) N° 1315/2013 on Union Guidelines for the development of a trans-European transport network

Evaluation findings:

All four specific objectives of the TEN-T Regulation remain relevant. For the objectives “efficient infrastructure to facilitate the internal market” and “territorial, economic and social cohesion”, the targets and measures substantiating these objectives remain especially relevant. The two objectives “sustainability” and “increasing benefits for users”, on the other hand, require substantial reinforcement of underlying targets and measures. It also needs to be underlined that all objectives remain equally important since they are complementary.

Effectiveness of TEN-T implementation – especially in the light of the new challenges and objectives – could be further enhanced through a strengthening of EU instruments (e.g. European Coordinators, delegated acts, accountability of Member States).

As regards efficiency, the TENtec system works relatively well and is mostly appreciated by stakeholders. In relation to the reporting and monitoring obligations set out in the TEN-T Regulation more generally, the evaluation suggests that there is some room for streamlining and strengthening these tools.

Achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal would require that the TEN-T infrastructure is fully aligned and coherent with the provisions resulting from the other policy initiatives in the fields of alternative fuels infrastructure, FuelEU Maritime and the ReFuel Aviation.

Overall, both the work on core network corridors and the relevant procedures in Member States show that the planning and decision-making process on TEN-T has been largely suitable to achieve the policy’s objectives, in spite of a need for specific reinforcements such as a better alignment of national transport planning and financing with TEN-T objectives.

Estimated savings and benefits

Evaluation findings suggested that the cost of governance and advice mechanisms are generally reasonable, but suggestions were made to improve their efficiency. The TEN-T corridor approach is recognised as a multi-level governance system which has brought transport stakeholders (such as representatives of EU regions and infrastructure managers of all modes) to work together and has effectively focused on delivering EU added value. Studies suggest that the implementation of the TEN-T core network leads to the creation of 7.5 million additional job years between 2018 and 2030 and a 1.6% increase in GDP in 2030. Furthermore, it is assumed that CO₂, NOx and PM emissions would be significantly higher in 2030 and 2050 if the TEN-T would not be implemented. Additional benefits derive from time savings in freight transport, access to larger labour market through better accessibility and shortened travel times for employees.

Which objective(s) does the Commission pursue?

The TEN-T revision aims at reaching four main objectives. Firstly, it aims at making transport greener by providing the appropriate infrastructure basis to alleviate congestion and reduce GHG emissions and pollution of air and water through incentives to shift transport demand towards sustainable forms of transport, e.g. through the application of new TEN-T standards. Secondly, it aims at facilitating seamless and efficient transport, fostering multimodality and interoperability between the TEN-T transport modes and better integrating the urban nodes into the network. Thirdly, it strives to increase the resilience of TEN-T to climate change and other natural or man-made disasters. Last but not least, it points at improving the efficiency of the TEN-T governance tools, at streamlining the reporting and monitoring instruments and at reviewing the TEN-T network design.

Estimated savings and benefits

Since the establishment of the TEN-T Regulation in 2013, the policy context has changed significantly, particularly through the adoption of the European Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy as well as the Zero Pollution Action Plan. In this vein the evaluation of the TEN-T Regulation concluded that the reduction of transport emissions by 90% by 2050 cannot be achieved without a proper TEN-T network allowing for greener transport in place. In addition to that, advancements have been made in the fields of digitalisation as well as new transport solutions and technologies that need to be better taken account off. Thus, the proposal improves the functioning of the TEN-T policy by increasing the efficiency of the regulatory framework as a whole and assures that it is fit for purpose to address the abovementioned challenges. On top of that, it clarifies certain requirements and concepts. For instance, the concept of Motorways of the Sea as currently defined in the Regulation has been acknowledged by a large number of experts and project promoters as overly complex. The evaluation of the TEN-T Regulation confirms that it would benefit from simplification and integration in an overarching and integrated concept of the TEN-T covering ports, shipping and all other maritime infrastructure elements for the benefit of the entire ‘European Maritime Space’. Another example is the alignment of the Rail Freight Corridors with the Core Network Corridors which will allow optimising the instruments and avoid duplication, for example the requirement to draw up investment plans under the Rail Freight Corridor Regulation which should be simply removed as such investment plans overlap with the work plans which are regularly prepared by the European TEN-T Coordinators. The potential savings of such a simplified corridor organisation have been assessed to be at around 200 thousand annually. Two further simplifications that will lead to potential cost savings have been identified (but are difficult to quantify):

- Automated data input into the TENtec system allowing an exchange directly from the data source (Member State, infrastructure manager);

- replacing the biennial work plans of the European Coordinators and the biennial progress reporting on the implementation of the TEN-T by the Member States with a work plan including the priorities for the respective corridor development every four years, with a brief annual status report on the state of implementation of the Corridors, Motorways of the Seas (in future European Maritime Space) and ERTMS.

While the proposal increases the overall implementation costs for authorities, it generates improvements, in particular economic and employment gains and enables more sustainable forms of transport that more than offset the increase in regulatory costs.

The proposed revision brings significant economic benefits, notably an increase of 0.4% of GDP in 2030, 1.3% in 2040 and 2.4% by 2050 relative to the baseline. This translates into €57 billion increase in GDP relative to the baseline in 2030, €229 billion in 2040 and €467 billion in 2040. Higher investments on the TEN-T also create employment, leading to an estimated 0.1% increase of employment in 2030 relative to the baseline, 0.3% in 2040 and 0.5% by 2050, equivalent to 200,000 additional employed persons in 2030, 561,000 in 2040 and 840,000 by 2050. Moreover, the shift from road to less emitting modes enabled by the bundle of measures are projected to result in CO₂ emissions and air pollution emissions reductions. The reduction in the external costs of CO₂ emissions is estimated at around €387 million relative to the baseline over the 2021-2050 period, expressed as present value, while the reduction in the external costs of air pollution at around €420 million. In addition, improvements of road safety are brought by the extension of the motorway standard and the related safety features to all network sections above a certain daily traffic threshold reducing the number of fatalities and injured persons. The reduction in the external costs of accidents is estimated at around €3,930 million relative to the baseline over the 2021-2050 period, expressed as present value. The reduction in the external costs of inter-urban road congestion is estimated at around € 2,891 million relative to the baseline over the 2021-2050 period.