13.9.2012   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 277/125

—

recalls the importance of the European policy in the field of transport, energy and telecommunications as a key instrument to ensure the increase of the competitiveness of cities and regions and contribute to the achievement of economic, social and territorial cohesion within the EU;

—

supports the creation of the new Connecting Europe facility (CEF) instrument as a common legal framework and as a single funding instrument for the transport, energy and telecommunications sector;

—

welcomes its focus on filling in missing links, removing bottlenecks and providing adequate cross-border connections as well as the introduction of innovative financial instruments, in order to ensure the highest leverage effect of public spending and delivering higher added value for EU citizens;

—

calls for implementation to take place in close cooperation with Member States, local and regional authorities and the actors on the ground in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity;

—

considers that the implementation should also be in line with the objectives of both the Europe 2020 strategy and the Cohesion policy, and in complementarity and consistency with the Cohesion Policy Funds;

—

insists that the funding is fairly allocated between all EU Member States and regions whilst taking into account the specific territorial circumstances of the EU;

—

asks the European Commission to clarify that the EUR 10 bn to be transferred from the Cohesion Fund respect the Cohesion Fund Regulation, including national quotas applying to Member States.

Rapporteur

Ivan ŽAGAR (SI/EPP), Mayor of Slovenska Bistrica

Reference documents

1.

recalls that the European policy of transport, telecommunications and digital facilities should be conceived as a key instrument to ensure the increase of the competitiveness of cities and regions, the free movement of goods and persons, the integration of the Single Market and economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU and its connection to the rest of the world;

2.

welcomes the potential role of the Connecting Europe Facility to boost growth and jobs and make Europe more competitive (1) and supports the focus of the Commission on filling in missing links, removing bottlenecks and providing adequate cross-border connections;

3.

supports the creation of the new Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) instrument as a common legal framework and as a funding instrument, for the transport, energy and telecommunications sectors;

4.

calls for implementation to take place in close cooperation with Member States, local and regional authorities and the actors on the ground in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity;

5.

calls for a more transparent, coherent and simplified approach to EU financing able to attract the private sector financing which is nowadays necessary to achieve the EU's objectives;

6.

considers that the implementation of the CEF should also contribute to the strengthening of economic, social and territorial cohesion objectives and should be interconnected with the Cohesion Policy Funds so that they complement and are consistent with each other;

7.

welcomes the Commission's proposals to earmark EUR 10 billion from Cohesion Fund in the CEF to support coordinated transport infrastructure projects implementation on the TEN-T core network in the Cohesion Member States; stresses the need to respect, to the greatest possible extent, the national allocations under the Cohesion Fund, in order to ensure favourable financial support conditions, as provided by the Cohesion Fund, for all types of eligible projects, including road cross-border projects;

8.

considers that CEF projects should follow the priorities of smart, inclusive and sustainable growth – the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy;

9.

underlines the difficulty for many Member States of developing by themselves complex cross-border transport infrastructure projects, while at EU level there is a critical mass of demand for more synergies between various financing programmes and policy sectors which must ensure the highest leverage effect of the public spending that carries higher added value for the EU citizens;

10.

supports the creation of the new Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) instrument as a common legal framework and as a single funding instrument for the transport, energy and telecommunication sectors;

11.

underlines that in the framework of transport projects, we should consider their inter-linkages with other forms of transport concerning hubs, e.g. air transport, the underground/metro, etc.; access to a fast broadband network and services must be provided, particularly in areas that are not commercially attractive, such as low population-density rural areas, where ICT can make it easier to provide public services and contribute to preserving the rural population and to territorial cohesion;

12.

would like the treatment of regions with a different development index to be clarified so that they reflect specific territorial circumstances of the EU, including regions with severe and permanent demographic and natural handicaps and the outermost dimension, and cover Europe's regions in a balanced way;

13.

supports the efforts to promote clean and sustainable transport systems, especially rail and maritime transport, which are effective and competitive modes that must be equipped with proper infrastructure and organised services. In order to ensure that these sustainable modes of transport function smoothly, it is also necessary to develop inland logistical hubs providing optimum intermodal exchange and overall system efficiency;

14.

feels that due account must be taken of the particular circumstances of a range of areas in the EU, including regions in the new Member States where infrastructure has to date been poorly developed and has lacked adequate funding, especially where this brings major regional added value, for instance for cross-border transport;

15.

stresses the need to promote the interconnection of energy networks and the functioning of the internal energy market in the EU as well as to acknowledge the EU's energy independency as one of the key priorities of this instrument and to bolster the security of supply;

16.

stresses the fact that the investments in the telecommunication broadband network and digital service infrastructure platforms are essential to achieving the EU's Digital Agenda and contributing to the EU 2020 objectives as well as to delivering European public services;

17.

welcomes the creation of CEF instrument and its financial resources which must not be called into question, in order to ensure the CEF's effectiveness and leverage effect on other sources of public and private finance. But warns against any attempt that could be to the detriment of the Structural Funds;

18.

is concerned, owing to the state on the financial markets, about the expected impact and leverage effect of the CEF funding measures on the regional and local public financing planned for infrastructure investment;

19.

insists that the funding is fairly allocated between all EU Member States and regions, and takes into account the quality and added-value of CEF funded projects in transport, energy and telecommunications networks for the weakest regions, including those suffering from permanent geographical and natural handicaps, very low population density and island, cross-border and mountain regions, with due consideration for effectiveness and the leverage effect of the proposed projects;

20.

asks the European Commission to clarify that the EUR 10bn, to be transferred from the Cohesion Fund, respect the Cohesion Fund Regulation, including the national quotas applying to Members States;

21.

stresses the fact that eligibility rules shall be extended concerning administrative costs;

22.

supports a more transparent, coherent and simplified approach to EU financing in order to attract private sector financing; therefore requests that administrative costs be added to eligible expenses so that the objectives can be achieved more effectively and stresses that new funding sources shall by no means replace traditional EU financing, but rather complement it;

23.

welcomes the introduction of innovative financial instruments, particularly the use of EU project bonds, which will attract private investors and stimulate public-private partnerships in the EU. Considering the state of financial markets, the guarantee for these bonds should lie with the Commission;

24.

asks the Commission to foresee capacity building measures for the use of innovative financial instruments, in order to support participation of public authorities who do not have the required expertise, especially at regional and local level; welcomes the adoption on 6 July 2012 of the Regulation launching the 2012-2013 pilot phase of the EU project bonds initiative aimed at mobilising up to EUR 4,5 billion in private sector financing for key strategic infrastructure projects (2); supports that if successful, the pilot phase will be followed by an operational phase during 2014-2020 under the EU's Connecting Europe Facility;

25.

welcomes working programmes as instruments using the form of grants used in case of particular measures;

26.

states that eligibility of expenditure, as defined by CEF, can be a limiting factor in implementation of projects; therefore it should be modified in terms of eligibility dates and particular items of eligible costs, such as preparation costs, not recoverable VAT, land purchase;

27.

is concerned about the fact that all proposals for grants shall be subject to agreement solely by Member States. Therefore the Committee of the Regions asks for local and regional authorities to be part of the process of selection when appropriate and according to their legal competences;

28.

stresses that, considering the current situation faced by local and regional authorities, beneficiaries will not be able to start their works in time. Consequently, provisions concerning cancellation of the projects shall not be too restrictive, and therefore allow a three years period instead of two years proposed by the European Commission;

29.

recalls that the 10 billion Euros to be ring-fenced from the Cohesion Fund shall be managed under the rules of direct management and not under the ‘first come first served principle’; stresses that a ‘first come, first served’ approach may risk accentuating the imbalance of the EU Cohesion countries which face more difficulties regarding administrative, human and financial conditions which may become an obstacle for some Member States and Regions to present mature projects;

30.

proposes that the rules for the eligibility of expenditure of the EUR 10bn to be transferred from the Cohesion Fund should be in line with the regulation applying to this Fund;

31.

asks that, without prejudice to the issues of competence, the financial support of projects beneath the level of trans- European networks must comply with the principle of subsidiarity;

32.

supports multiannual work programmes that shall be communicated to all parties concerned. In line with the principles of multilevel governance, preparation of work programmes should involve partners at all levels;

33.

stresses that local and regional authorities are legally responsible for many of the areas covered by the CEF and are directly affected by the proposed measures to finance Trans-European transport, energy and telecommunication infrastructures; it is therefore imperative that the principles of multilevel governance are respected to ensure balanced territorial development;

34.

considers that the CEF proposal does not appear to raise any issue regarding its compliance with the principle of subsidiarity (3); recalls that, due to their scale and effects, CEF projects may involve trans-national dimension and therefore they have to be achieved at the most appropriate level: EU, national, regional or local;

35.

insists that the regional and local authorities and other relevant stakeholders need to be included in the decision-making and planning process within the Member States concerning the CEF's indicative list of projects that could potentially be financed;

36.

insists that local and regional authorities should be informed as early as possible of the CEF proposals and be actively supported to integrate them in project preparation and territorial strategies for development. It is also crucial that all stakeholders in the individual regions cooperate in the preparation of future CEF projects and their implementation;

37.

is of the opinion that strategic measures to encourage regional and national authorities need to be developed to prepare the lists of proposed investments in the fields of energy and telecommunication by the end of 2012, as only this way will enough time be left for individual Member States to prepare their project documentation;

38.

stresses that new technologies (e.g. infrastructure for alternative fuels) have higher entry barriers than traditional infrastructure such as road and rail and therefore grants shall be enabled up to 50 % instead of 20 %;

39.

stresses that the implementation of the CEF by the European Commission's executive agency as management authority should be carried out in close cooperation with other relevant public authorities. Additional costs for establishment and operation of the agency should be avoided;

40.

underlines that the rules regulating CEF funds need to be defined, when individual partners from different Member States are not able to reach an agreement on the implementation of an individual project;

41.

consequently suggests that the EC analyse the usefulness of the EGTC in order to cope with potential difficulties in the implementation of cross-border projects due to different national legislations and the combination of different financial sources defined in various regulations;

42.

highlights the need to ensure a coherent compatibility between projects financed through Structural and Cohesion funds and CEF and the expected impact of the CEF on the smaller projects;

43.

asks the Commission to provide clear measures that guarantee coordination and compatibility between the regulations applying to Structural Funds, especially when it comes to the drafting of the Common Strategic Framework and Partnership Contracts, but also concerning the eligibility rules and possible overlapping of funded projects;

44.

draws attention to the impact of the CEF on the territorial planning and regional and local development strategies and supports capacity-building measures to support regional and local authorities to be best prepared for being able to put forward mature projects to be financed through CEF;

45.

insists that the operational programmes and regulations for the 2014-2020 programme period are approved on time, so that project implementation could start at the beginning of 2014;

46.

supports the Commission's proposal to move towards a more results-oriented approach by using clear and measurable targets and outcome indicators agreed in advance. A few clear and reliable indicators should be defined. Indicators should be general, fair, proportional and based on the principle of equal treatment. Strategic planning instruments will therefore need to be available to LRAs with the purpose of avoiding additional administrative burden concerning reporting, adding a need for evaluation that includes impact on economic, social and territorial cohesion;

47.

asks that Member States make more use of the technical help that is available for operational programmes in order to improve the capacities of local and regional bodies and other participants for drawing of EU funds. In the framework of the CEF instrument it is especially important that the less developed Member States also prepare quality projects with the help of technical assistance resources and can, thus, be an equal candidate in comparison to other Member States when applying for the calls for proposals for EU co-financing;

48.

seeks a more detailed definition with regard to preparing project documentation, preparing projects, initiating procedures and the applications of individual participants (division of tasks between national bodies and regional and local authorities) in the framework of the CEF instrument.