• No results found

Transport Infrastructure Financing

N/A
N/A
Protected

Academic year: 2021

Share "Transport Infrastructure Financing"

Copied!
169
0
0

Loading.... (view fulltext now)

Full text

(1)

RAPP

SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Transport Infrastructure

Financing on European

Level

(2)

Further copies of this report may be ordered from

Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Customer Service

SE-106 48 Stockholm, Sweden

Int. tel: + 46 8 698 12 00 Fax + 46 8 698 15 15 Internet: www.environ.se

isbn 91-620-5082-6 issn 0282-7298

© Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Printer: Naturvårdsverkets reprocentral 2000/07

(3)

Transport Infrastructure Financing

on European Level

(4)

Preface

The sustainable transport system is among the great challenges for society today - and tomorrow. A wide range of environmental problems have to be solved, at the same time compatible with environmental, social, and economic goals.

Within the transport sector already a fair amount of measures have been taken to lessen the burden on the environment. In order to achieve an environmentally sustainable transport system more action is needed. The integration of environmental concerns into policies and decision making processes has to be extended and deepened.

In a joint report back in 1996 eleven Swedish stakeholders within the field of transport and environment defined an environmentally sustainable transport system (EST) in terms of a number of goals. The stakeholders assumed that the goals could be reached within 25-30 years. The Swedish EST-project, inter alia, stressed the importance of international co-operation.

Acting on that conclusion, the Swedish National Road Administration, the Swedish National Rail Administration, the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration, the National Maritime Administration, the Swedish Institute for Transport and Communication Analysis, the Swedish Transport and Communication Research Board and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency now have rejoined their forces and is jointly running the project Euro-EST. The objective of the Euro-EST is to promote co-ordinated and integrated environmental actions in the transport sector with a view of achieving an environmentally sustainable transport system in Europe.

Funds are powerful European Union instruments in the development of a common Trans-sport infrastructure. They will affect the structure of tranTrans-sport for long time. The mechanisms of the funds have been investigated and gathered for this report, both in general and for three different cases.

The report was written by Michael Viehhauser and Cecilia Henriksson at Inregia AB. The authors are responsible for the content of the report, as well as for the conclusions.

SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Stockholm, June 2000

(5)

Table of contents

PREFACE ... 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... 3

FIGURES AND TABLES ... 6

LIST OF ACRONYMS... 7 SUMMARY... 8 1. INTRODUCTION ... 11 1.1 OBJECTIVES... 11 1.2 METHODOLOGY... 12 1.3 DISPOSITION... 13

2. EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS AND LEGISLATION... 15

2.1 EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS... 15

European Council ... 16

European Parliament... 18

European Commission ... 18

Advising Committees... 20

European Environment Agency ... 21

European Court of auditors ... 22

European Investment Bank ... 22

European Investment Fund ... 22

2.2 EU RELATED KEY-ACTORS... 23

Community Member States ... 23

European Bank of Reconstruction and Development ... 23

2.3 THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS... 24

3. POLITICAL GUIDELINES FOR TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT... 26

3.1 THE EU TREATIES... 26

Treaty of Amsterdam... 27

3.2 EUROPEAN REGULATIONS AND DIRECTIVES... 30

Environmental Impact Assessment Directive... 31

3.3 EU POLICIES AND ACTION PLANS... 31

Towards Sustainability... 32

Natura 2000 ... 33

Common Transport Policy ... 34

Regional planning guidelines ... 35

Agenda 2000 ... 36

3.4 IN DRAFT - STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT... 37

Application for Structural Funds ... 38

Proposal for environmental TEN-indicators ... 41

4. FINANCIAL PROCESSES ... 42

4.1 THE UNION’S REVENUE... 42

4.2 THE UNION’S EXPENDITURE... 44

4.3 NEW BUDGETARY PROCEDURES... 45

4.4 EXPENDITURE FOR TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE... 45

4.5 EXPENDITURE FOR STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT... 46

Rules for Funding ... 47

Previous Budget Lines ... 48

Funds in the Period 2000 to 2006... 49

(6)

5. THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND... 54

5.1 OBJECTIVES... 56

5.2 PROCEDURES... 56

Choice of Programming Procedures ... 59

Ex-ante evaluation ... 61

Environmental Impact Assessment... 62

General view ... 63

5.3 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT... 63

5.4 KEY-ACTORS... 65

5.5 DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES... 66

Overall Budget Decision... 66

National Decision-making ... 67

European / National Co-decision on Regional Development Plans ... 67

Drafting of the Community Support Framework ... 68

National and regional Project Decision-making ... 70

6. COHESION FUND ... 70

6.1 OBJECTIVES... 71

6.2 PROCEDURES... 72

Cost-Benefit analysis ... 72

Environmental Impact Assessment... 72

Monitoring ... 73

Evaluation... 73

Reporting ... 75

6.3 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT... 75

General appropriations during the 1990s... 75

Eligible countries after year 2000 ... 78

Appropriations for present period ... 79

Approval of projects... 79

6.4 KEY-ACTORS... 80

6.5 FORMAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESS... 81

6.6 RECENT DEVELOPMENT... 83

Relation to other Funds ... 83

Link to Pre-Accession countries ... 84

7. TRANS-EUROPEAN TRANSPORT NETWORK ... 85

7.1 OBJECTIVES... 88

7.2 FINANCING... 89

Eligibility ... 90

Other forms of financing ... 91

7.3 DECISION-MAKING PROCESS... 92

Co-ordination between EU and Member States... 93

Decision making ... 93

Frequent problems ... 95

7.4 RELATIONSHIP TO ACCESSION COUNTRIES... 96

8. FORMS OF ADDITIONAL FINANCING ... 98

8.1 EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK... 98

Objectives and eligible projects... 98

Funding instruments ... 100

Transport infrastructure funding ... 102

Relation to EU-Funds ... 104

Appraisal procedures and decision-making... 105

8.2 EUROPEAN INVESTMENT FUND... 108

Objectives... 108

Eligible projects ... 109

Key-actors... 109

(7)

9. TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF SUSTAINABLE EU-FUNDING... 112

Key-actors... 112

European environmental legislation ... 115

European Policies... 116

Environmental aspects and financing mechanisms... 116

European Regional Development Fund ... 117

Cohesion Fund... 119

Trans-European Transport Networks ... 119

European Investment Bank ... 121

European Investment Fund ... 122

Recommendation for further Action... 122

PART B – CASE STUDIES... 123

CASE: BUNDESSTRASSE 96N IN MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN, GERMANY ... 123

REGION MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN... 123

PROJECT BACKGROUND... 124

KEY-ACTORS... 125

PLANNING PROCESS... 126

Spatial planning ... 127

Transport planning ... 128

Programmes and plans related to ERDF... 130

Planning of the B96n ... 131

FINANCING... 133

ENVIRONMENT... 134

CONCLUSIONS... 137

Description of Key-actors in planning process of B96n ... 139

SOURCE: INTERVIEWS WITH STAKEHOLDERS OF THE B96N PROJECT IN MV... 141

CASE: HARBOUR ROAD IN ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS... 142

REGION / ROTTERDAM AREA... 142

PROJECT BACKGROUND... 142

KEY-ACTORS... 144

PLANNING PROCESS... 145

Decision-making on projects from the MIT ... 145

FINANCING... 146

ENVIRONMENT... 146

Parties involved in EIS and EIA ... 147

Environmental Impact Study... 148

EIA process of the Harbour Road... 148

CONCLUSIONS... 149

CASE: JACK LYNCH TUNNEL IN CORK, IRELAND... 150

REGIONAL BACKGROUND / EUROPEAN DIMENSION... 150

PROJECT BACKGROUND... 150

KEY-ACTORS... 151

PLANNING PROCESS... 153

General planning rules ... 153

Planning process of tunnel project ... 154

FINANCING... 158

ENVIRONMENT... 158

CONCLUSIONS... 158

LITERATURE AND WEB-SITES ... 160

(8)

Figures and Tables

Figure 1 Overview chapters... 14

Figure 2 European Institutions... 16

Figure 3 Legislative process of the European Union... 25

Figure 4 Schematic inclusion of SEA in the ERDF decision-making procedure ... 40

Figure 5 Cash in- and outflow through European institutions... 43

Figure 6 Areas of Objective 1 for the period 2000-2006... 52

Figure 7 Procedure of project selection ... 60

Figure 8 Key Actors involved in the assessment of Structural Fund plans ... 65

Figure 9 Decision-making steps for projects of the Regional Fund ... 66

Figure 10 Key Actors involved in CF projects ... 81

Figure 11 Priority projects of the TEN-transport... 86

Figure 12 Decision-making process for TEN-projects ... 95

Figure 13 EIB funding major projects in EU between 1993 and 1996... 104

Figure 14 Transport links and projects in North-east Germany ... 125

Figure 15 Actors and Plans involved in B96n ... 127

Figure 16 Planning scheme of a federal trunk road ... 130

Figure 17 The section of the A 15 between Maasvlakte and Vaanplein ... 143

Table 1 Case Studies (part B) ... 12

Table 2 Binding EU legislation types ... 17

Table 3 EU Directives and Regulations with influence on transport infrastructure ... 30

Table 4 Stages of SEA in the ERDF programming ... 39

Table 5 Seven indicators for environmental TEN-assessment ... 42

Table 6 Field of expenditure of the EU-budget 1997 ... 44

Table 7 Financial EU-framework for Funds applied from 1993-1999 ... 48

Table 8 Structural assistance by objective of the period 1994-99 ... 49

Table 9 Appropriations for Cohesion and Structural Funds, period 2000-2006... 50

Table 10 Financial allocations for Objective 1 and 2 regions, period 2000-2006 ... 53

Table 11 Composition of the first and second generation of major projects by sector... 55

Table 12 Principles and key-elements of operational Structural Fund works ... 57

Table 13 Major actions of ERDF procedure... 58

Table 14 Technical indicators for a major road infrastructure project ... 62

Table 15 Allocation of implementing powers between central government and regions... 70

Table 16 Infrastructure and transport mode indicators for the European Union ... 71

Table 17 Evaluation criteria of projects within Cohesion Fund ... 74

Table 18 Cohesion Fund Budgetary Allocations... 76

Table 19 Break-down Cohesion Fund for environmental and transport support... 76

Table 20 Commitments and payments by beneficiary Member State ... 77

Table 21 Financial support of Cohesion Fund for road projects ... 77

Table 22 Estimated lengths of the TEN compared to European infrastructure ... 85

Table 23 EU funding of TEN ... 89

Table 24 TEN-measures during 1997-1999... 90

Table 25 Individual loans provided within the European Union... 99

Table 26 EIB individual loans for transport infrastructure within EU ... 102

Table 27 Individual and global loans for Transport Infrastructure by EIB ... 104

Table 28 The four sections of the B96n... 124

Table 29 Actors in the Case B96n ... 139

Table 30 Key-actors in planning process of Harbour Road... 144

Table 31 Key actors of the tunnel project... 152

(9)

List of Acronyms

BEUR Billion Euro

BECU Billion ECU

BMVBW Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau- und Wohnungswesen (Germany) CEC Commission of the European Community

CEEC Central and Eastern European Countries

CF Cohesion Fund

CSF Community Support Framework

CTP Common Transport Policy

DG Directorate General (since October 1999 the DG are called General Directorate) EBRD European Bank for Reinvestment and Development

EEA European Environment Agency EES Equivalent Straight line Speed EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EIB European Investment Bank EIF European Investment Fund EIS Environmental Impact Study ERA Environmental Risk Analysis

ESDP European Spatial Development Perspective

EU European Union

EU 15 The fifteen Member States of the European Union EUR European Union Currency ‘Euro’

Eurostat Statistical Office of the European Community FTIP Federal Traffic Infrastructure Plan (Germany) GDP Growth Domestic Product

IMG Investment Measures Acts (Germany)

INTERREG Cross-border, transnational and interregional co-operation ISPA Instruments for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession LEADER Community Initiative for rural development

LUTS Land use and Transport Survey

MECU Million Ecu

MEUR Million Euro

MS Member States (of the European Union) MV Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (German Land) NGO Non Governmental Organisation

NUTS Nomenclature des Unités Territoriales (statistical modus for regions) OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PPP Public Private Partnerships RDP Regional Development Plan

SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment

SF Structural Funds

SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

SWOT SWOT analyse – Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats TEN Trans-European Network (incl. transport, energy and telecommunication) TEN-T Trans-European transport Network

TEU Treaty on European Union

TINA Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment

(10)

Summary

In recent years the European Union has developed a very conscious environmental policy. The idea of sustainability was further developed, environmental aspects have to be considered in all European policies and within all activities of European actors. In general, the

involvement of EU-actors and instruments has also increased environmental considerations within programmes, plans and projects in the Member States. Environmental Impact Assessments in particular contribute to that. But mechanisms, which aim towards more sustainable transport systems within of European Union’s Funds and the trans-European network, are very unevenly developed. The Union can only partially influence the

development of national policies, regional development plans and the setting of priorities for certain transport modes and corridors. The related national or regional decision-making processes are open for European participation, but the Union’s is often only one actor among many others.

The main aim of the Union’s structural and cohesion policies is to help reduce economic and social disparities. They support national and regional policies in the weakest regions and on national and regional labour markets. While it is primarily the responsibility of the Member States and their regions to define the priorities for development and infrastructure networks, it is the European Union that promotes the aspect of economic and social cohesion in a wider European perspective. Environmental aspects are firm parts of all those actions.

The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of four structural funds of the Community. The major goal is to promote regional development. For the current funding seven years period from 2000-2006, the contributions from the European Regional Development Fund are slightly decreasing compared to the end of the 1990s. Most of the funding is dedicated to Objective 1 regions lagging behind whereof a big proportion is used for transport infrastructure projects. Railway projects have priority. The financial

contributions of the European Regional Development Fund to infrastructure projects can correspond to 75 per cent of the total project costs. But member States must ensure the prior financing of the projects which origins from the Fund’s principle of additionality. The main tools for the Fund responsible Directorate General for Regional Policies to promote more sustainability of the transport infrastructure are to use the formal legislation and the rules of the structural support programmes. All the environmental measures are based on bilateral negotiations between the Commission and the Member State. Results are Community Support Frameworks, Single Programming Documents and Operational Programmes that content developments objectives and measures as well as financial frameworks. The ERDF’s

environmental requirements are often very generalised due to the generally unspecified level of regional development indicators for follow up. Nevertheless, the implementation of environmental requirements in regional plans is promoted through the Community’s

environmental policies that at least give a formal framework for more environmental friendly solutions. But the weighting of sustainable aspects and the quality of environmental appraisals are in first line the task of the ERDF aiming towards more sustainability.

The Cohesion Fund (CF) is an instrument to promote the development of the economically weakest countries of the Community. Until 2006, the CF’s contribution for the currently four Cohesion countries (Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain) will remain at nearly the same level as in the end of the 1990s, i.e. approximately BEUR 2.6 per year. The CF is exclusively and in equal shares contributing to environmental and transport infrastructure projects. The financial contribution can be up to 90 per cent of the total investment costs (combined with

(11)

other funding such as ERDF and TEN). The majority of infrastructure projects of the CF are nowadays railway projects after a long period in the 1990s when road projects dominated. The CF is directly related to single projects. Therefore the influence of the Commission (DG Regional Policy) on the design and scope of a project is strong and direct. The rules of the CF for the promotion of environmental consideration are noticeably reinforced through its clear procedure and strong orientation for more sustainable mobility. Moreover, the high financial contribution of the Union through the CF allows for the Commission to influence the

implementation and the outcome of projects.

The study illustrates that the sustainable oriented rules of the ERDF and the CF have led to a strengthening of environmental aspects in the subsequent plans and projects of the Member States. Intensified efforts on environmental evaluation are central to this approach, in which the Member States play an important role. The general revision of the legal framework and regulation of the ERDF and CF in 1999 would be expected to improve the environmental dimension of the Funds as requested by the European Parliament and the Commission. More detailed evaluations of possible improvements are due to the (ex-ante and mid-term)

evaluations of the Funds.

A special initiative of the European Union is the realisation of the trans-European networks (energy, telecommunication and transport). The trans-European networks (TEN) shall support the European integration process and help to establish high functionality and mobility within the internal common market. For these networks an own EU-budget line is created. A major share is spent on traditional transport infrastructure development. For the coming financial period (2000-2006), the Member States will receive EU-funding that is particularly dedicated to feasibility studies and project assessments. Investment contributions are limited to 10 per cent per object. That is the reason why the influence of the responsible Directorate General for Energy and Transport on national decision and priorities is relatively limited. The TEN-choice of priority projects is a matter of national decision-making, sustainable criteria included. The TEN-guidelines (currently under revision – White book for TEN) include environmental assessments that aim towards more sustainable mobility solutions. TEN-project are often combined with CF funding that together approves high financial volumes to transport infrastructure projects in the four Cohesion countries. This makes it possible for the European Union to strengthen environmental consideration and to carry through

environmentally less damaging projects. The financial contribution of the European Investment Bank to TEN-projects is considerable without being combined with an

environmental selection criteria for projects. In general the Union tries to encourage Privat-Public-Partnerships for TEN and to find new financing solution of the generally very expensive infrastructure projects.

There are two vital financial instruments of the European Union, which shall promote the European socio-economic development and integration process: the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) with more capital resources even compared to the World Bank, is the European Union's major financing institution. It provides long-term loans for capital investment in order to support economic progress in regions lagging behind, the realisation of the trans-European networks and to improve the quality of life and environment. The EIB carries out own appraisals (financial and technical viability, environmental aspects) of each investment project. Often, the EIB and the Commission co-operate in investigating projects. EIB loans are often combined with grants from the EU's Structural Funds and CF.

(12)

The financing of the TENs is one major aim of the EIB. In order to augment the risk capital for uncertain infrastructure projects the EIB has set up the European Investment Fund (EIF) to provide long-term guarantees. The bank has a proper environmental policy. However, projects are not primarily selected because of their sustainability but because of their financial

feasibility. Typical assessment instruments of the EIB are feasibility studies with environmental contents.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is an independent financial institution and therefore not part of the Union’s institutional system. The EIF is not a lending institution, nor does it provide or manage grants or subsidies. It only gives provisions of loan guarantees. The Fund is formed of contributions from private and public financial institutions from all 15 Member States. EIF supports medium and long-term investment in the trans-European networks and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.. The EIF is a sort of catalyst in facilitating the

participation of private capital in TEN projects. The EIF acts as a complement to the banking sector, with which it shares risk, and in co-ordination with other EU financial institutions and instruments. The Fund has no environmental policy of its own. It relies on the appraisals and assessment of the responsible national bodies, which are carrying through the project in question.

The European initiatives like ERDF, CF, TEN and the financial instruments EIB and EIF have considerable influence on the development of European regions and their infrastructure. To improve the quality of transport networks, which is regarded as a key development issue, is one major intention of EU-policies in all initiatives. This includes the shift to more

environmentally friendly modes (as proved with the Council decision to promote especially railway and water transport in the coming years) and the best achievable quality of projects, i.e. projects with the lowest environmental impact and at the same time greatest

environmental benefits. However, economic requirements are still dominating the

infrastructure planning and consequently the necessity to construct new roads is in spite of environmental damages a major investment activity in Europe.

Infrastructure planning is principally a domain of the Member States. National priorities and regional economic needs are widely determining the scope and manner of infrastructure new construction. The EU is supporting these needs with considerable amounts of funding. This is a very important contribution to the European integration and cohesion process. In order to make sure that the funding is really used in the best way, the EU assesses every single project, both concerning its environment impacts and financial solidity. The principle of conditionality is crucial for guaranteeing efficiency both qualitatively and quantitatively. The principle of additionality is also a fundamental feature for ensuring that European interests are kept. This sets the EU in a strong relationship to the Member States. Continuous bilateral contacts on many levels make it possible that the EU can push forward its greening policy into national realms.

The Case Studies in part B of the report are underlining the strong position of the instrument EIA. However, the influence of the EIA on decision-making considerably varies in the three investigated countries. Strategic environmental decisions play a certain role in early planning stages. The EU Commission does not have a decisive role in any of the analysed cases. However European dimensions in infrastructure planning become stronger and stronger.

(13)

1.

Introduction

The decisions taken by the prime ministers at the meeting in Cardiff in June 1998 and by the environment and transportation ministers at their conference in Luxembourg in June 1998 are important pillars for the transport policy in Europe.

The strategy of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is to establish long term strategies based on international co-operation and interaction which are necessary in order to carry forward the idea of sustainable transportation system. In this regard, national, regional and local policy-making must come to more environmental friendly decisions. This includes, beside the actions of the European Union, also to strengthen the work within EU Member States and Accession countries. Another important factor aiming towards more sustainability is to use intermediate networks assembling civil and industrial bodies.

The financial contributions of the European Structural and Cohesion Funds as well as European loans and guarantees from three important financial institutions, namely the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund and the European Reinvestment and Development Bank, have large importance for the development of the transportation systems in Europe. The European Union is an important actor within the European-wide infrastructure policy, especially within the trans-European networks. EU Funds and loans as well as financial guarantees are important supports for regional development and cohesion projects within the European Community and have also increasing importance for the Accession countries.

From the environmental point of view, the European Union is a key-actor to counteract the growth of road transport and the increase of environmental damage through not reflected road investments. At the other hand, the European Union has the responsibility for a balanced economical regional development at its territory. Road infrastructure is a linking element for both tasks and therefore an important issue for sustainable development.

The transport strategy of the Union was re-discussed at the Helsinki Council in December 1999. See also Council Strategy on the integration of environment and sustainable

development into the transport policy. A set of 27 indicators has been developed to help measure progress on an annual basis. In future, it will be necessary to define more clearly what sustainable transport actually means and to develop long-term environmental targets for the sector. There are proposals on the Council table of particular relevance to climate change and sustainable transport, which are not yet adopted.

1.1 Objectives

This study analyses the different European Fund and loan mechanisms for major road infrastructure projects under an environmental approach. European institutions, Member States and partly the Accession Countries are in the focus of the review.

The main objectives of the study are to:

• identify European key institutions which have major impacts on the decision making of the road infrastructure system and its future development,

(14)

• describe an the way of decision-making within different forms of financial contributions including how and the key role-players act and interact

• identify the major development forces of environmental issues within the funding systems

• analyse possible ways of integration of environmental concerns into the planning and implementation procedure for road infrastructure

These points are also guiding issues through the study. The different parts of the study try to include all of these objectives.

For the second part three case studies in three European countries are carried out. The cases match the European Funds and Financial instruments or shall give a good example for widely developed environmental considerations and instruments as the case in the Netherlands shows.

Table 1 Case Studies (part B)

Cases Status of the

project

ERDF CF TEN EIB / EIF Case 1: Section Harbour Road of

motorway A 15 in Rotterdam / Netherlands

Still in planning phase

Selected because of Holland’s widely developed environmental procedures

Case 2: Section Downstream River Crossing river Lee of M1 from Cork to Dublin / Ireland

Finished

(X) X (X)

Case 3: German Federal Road B 96n in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern connecting the island Rügen with the A 20 from Lübeck to Polish border

Partly finished, partly in final planning stages

X (X)

The objectives of the case studies are to look into:

• National priorities that lead to the choice of national road infrastructure projects

• Identification of the decision-making institutions / key-actors

• Environmental investment and analysis procedures

• Overview over the decision-making process before the realisation of the project

• Investigating the financing budgets of the project (actors, conditions, time tables)

• Analyse of the environmental aspects in the decision-making and financing processes

1.2 Methodology

Information about the Funds and loans, institutions and regulations were gathered through Internet and by email contacts with different European institutions. Mostly original EU-documents were used for the first part of the study. Interviews (conducted per telephone) with staff of the European Commission, of the European investment institutions and of Swedish experts contributed to put together the first part of the study. Funds and loans were

investigated concerning their existing environmental policies and rules. Detailed information about decision-making and financial routines itself were collected through studying key documents describing the different forms of investments and were completed by the telephone

(15)

interviews. Bases on the results of the overall study three cases were selected in order to elucidate the impact of the different Funds and loans.

For the case studies (in part B) the approach has been like the following:

• Choice of countries and regions with interesting projects which match the study criteria

• Collecting material via Internet and other sources (official documentation, project studies and evaluations, press releases)

• Selection of certain sections of the proposed road infrastructure projects

• Searching of key-actors in ministries, regional authorities and private bodies (banks)

• Preparation of questionnaire for telephone interviews

• Conducting telephone interviews with key-actors

• Compilation of the material and interview results

There are two major problems of the study approach. Firstly, the available material of Funds, TENs and various financing instruments do not cover detailed information about actual decision-making procedures on European level. How key-role players act and interact is not easily to investigate and can therefore not be presented in a deeper analysis. Secondly, the guidelines for ERDF, CF and TEN were modified at the same time when this study was carried out. Many information concerning the funds’ framework, ex-ante evaluations and national adaptation to the new rules were still very fragmented during the study time.

Therefore, the consideration of modifications, environmental rules and financing agreements is partly deficient.

1.3 Disposition

This study is twofold. Part A gives an overview of European institutions, legislation and overall financing rules which are related to the question of transport infrastructure planning and financing. It treats the organisation, financial rules, decision-making processes and environmental concerns of the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the Trans-European Network programme and analyses the EU associated financial

instruments European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund. Part B analyses three concrete examples of major infrastructure projects within the European Union.

The first branch of part A shall help to gain an overview over the European institutional framework showing the most important key-role players on European level and the recent European environmental and transport related legislation as well as policies. The financial backgrounds concerning spatially important European Funds, trans-European networks and EU related financial instruments, which are vital for road infrastructure investments, are described.

In the second half of part A, the procedures of two European Funds (European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund) and the Community programme of Trans-European transport Networks with their financial rules including the related key-actors and decision-making processes are presented. Environmental issues within these different European initiatives are analysed. The new European funding period from 2000-2006 is particularly stressed.

A description of two EU related financial institutions (European Investment Bank, European Investment Fund, European Bank of Reconstruction and Development) is following, It

(16)

concerns their influences and contributions to a more environmentally friendly transport infrastructure system.

Part B of the study highlights three major infrastructure projects in three European countries (examples see above). Decision-making processes are analysed under an environmental point of view. Two of the investigated examples are part of Trans-European transport Network projects with financial funding from the ERDF and / or the CF. The third case study is describing a motorway planning example in Holland that is in an early planning process where the final financing modus of the project is not decided yet.

Figure 1 Overview chapters

European Institutions and Legislation

Chapter 2

Towards an understanding of EU Funds and Loans

Chapter 9 European Regional Development Fund Chapter 5 Trans-European (Transport) Networks Chapter 7 EU - Financial Processes Chapter 4

Political Guidelines for Transport & Environment

Chapter 3

Focus:Environmental Impact Assessment & Strategic Environment Assessment

European Investment Bank & Fund

Chapter 8 European Cohesion

Fund Chapter 6

Focus:Funds and TEN

Case Study Case Study Case Study Part B Introduction Part A

The core chapters for the understanding of European Funds and Loans for major road infrastructure projects are the chapters which deal with the European Regional Investment Fund (chapter 5), the Cohesion Fund (chapter 6), the trans-European networks TEN (chapter 7) and the chapter 8 describing the role of the European Investment Bank and Fund. The Case Studies contribute to a better understanding how the different financing mechanisms interact with environmental requirements (part B).

(17)

2. European Institutions and Legislation

The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, as amended by the Single European Act, explicitly provides for the development and implementation of a Community policy on the environment. The Maastricht Treaty (1992) has as a principal objective the promotion of sustainable growth respecting the environment. Another central content of the Maastricht Treaty is the introduction of co-operation (now co-decision) procedure for all legislation on transport, which entails greater political and legislative power to the European Parliament. The Amsterdam Treaty (1997) continues this policy. The Treaties give the European institutions more and more influence on national policies.

Transport was until the late 1980s not seen as a primary European concern. But with the Single Market, which was established in 1992, transport issues became an essential part of European development policies. The White Paper “Growth, Competitiveness and

Employment” identified the creation of major infrastructure networks as a key priority to improve the competitiveness of the European economy. Guidelines have been established at the European level for road, rail, waterways and airports networks. In 1994, Trans-European networks (TEN) were launched as a particular European task in order to promote the

economic development and producing links to the Mediterranean countries and eastern Europe. This goes hand in hand with the expansion of the structural policies that resulted in the present forms of Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund. All that is combined with rising European expenditure for structural policies especially including transport infrastructure measures.

The most important European legislative and regulative institutions and initiatives, which are forming this triangle of fund-transport-environment, are explained in the following sections.

2.1 European institutions

The Maastricht Treaty established a single institutional framework designed to ensure the consistency and continuity of the European policy, which is built upon the ‘acquis

communautaire’ (European legislation). The tasks entrusted to the Community are carried out by the Council of Ministers, European Parliament, the Commission, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors. The political activities gets advisory support of different committees, e.g. the Committee of the Regions and other politically related institutions. The Treaties also recognise the de facto and de jure existence of the European Council that gives development impetus and defines the general political guidelines.

The European institutions are obliged to work together within transport investments and related budgetary issues. Through the principles of ‘transparency’, ‘sustainability’ and

‘subsidiarity’ the decision-making processes includes all geographic levels from municipal to European institutions and enforces the regard of environmental subjects. For the

understanding, which institutions are deciding over European funds and loans as well as transport policies, a row of actors on European level is briefly described below.

(18)

Figure 2 European Institutions European Parliament European Commission EIB Court of Auditors Committee of the Regions Member States European Council

24 Directorate Generale Corepers

E u ro p ea n C o re -i n st it u ti o n s EIF Economic and Social Comm. Source: Inregia AB European Council

The European Council, which consists either of the 15 political leader or particular ministers of the Member States (e.g. Transport minister or Planning minister Councils), is the dominant element of the Union. It sets priorities, gives political direction, and provides impetus for its development. It is a body with the characteristics of both a supranational and

intergovernmental organisation. The European Council regularly reports to the European Parliament (e.g. annual written reports on the progress achieved by the Union).

The Presidency of the Council rotates between the Member States every six months (January until June, July until December). Member states that have the presidency must seek for acceptable compromises and find pragmatic solutions to problems submitted to the Council and secure consistency and continuity in decision-making. Each meeting of the Council brings together Member States' representatives (usually ministers and high officials), who are responsible to their national parliaments and policies. Council meetings on transport or environment are two to four times a year.

Each member state has permanent national representations with senior diplomats and officials (so called Corepers) in Brussels. Around 220 working groups prepare ministerial sessions by using the results of national experts groups and making detailed examinations of Commission proposals. They also insure that only the most difficult and sensitive issues are dealt with at this level.

Main decision of the Council can be taken either by qualified majority voting (e.g. transport and environment, trans-European networks) or by unanimity (e.g. Regional Fund).

The decision-making process of community policies begins with a Commission proposal. A detailed examination by experts and at the political level follows. Finally, the Council can either adopt the Commission proposal, amend it or ignore it. In transport and environmental issues, the European Parliament influences the process in a co-decision procedure.

(19)

The European Council makes the Community law, which must be adopted by the Council or the Parliament and Council in the framework of the co-decision procedure. It may have four different forms, namely

regulations that must be directly applied within the member states

directives that bind the member states to achieve its objectives by using their own national forms and measures

decisions that are binding for the targeted institutions (any or all member states, undertakings or individuals) or recommendations and opinions which are not binding. In the point of view of environmental integration into European / national legislation, these three types of EU legislation are crucial. They have different dimensions and require various obligations in the Member States as shown in the table below.

Table 2 Binding EU legislation types

Categories Directives Regulations Decisions

Meaning and Frequency

Most frequently used within Community legislation (e.g. environmental laws)

Are used when a unified system is needed: Funds, institutions, endangered species, transport; about 10% of EU environmental related laws

Are used to specify detailed administrative requirements or update technical aspects of Regulations or Directives

Obligations Member States must adapt national laws, regulations and procedures to give effect to the directive by the date of transposition; this is typically two years after the date of entry into force

Member States must establish institutions and procedures; they should repeal conflicting national provisions

Member States must focus on it in scope and

application in their own administrations and executives (example in transport infrastructure funding)

Source: CEC 1999e

The vast majority of EU environment legislation is in the form of Directives. Different, and normally less complex actions are required for Regulations and Decisions because these do not need direct incorporation into national law. To the greatest possible extent, national legal measures aimed at approximating EU legislation should be integrated with national environmental priorities and principles in a manner, which fully reinforces the principles, objectives and requirements of EU law. Each Member State takes the actions, which it considers appropriate and feasible in its own unique legal, economic and political circumstances.

For example, in Belgium, which is a federal union where powers to regulate the environment are devolved almost entirely to the regional governments, each region implements EU law separately. In France, the transposed EU directives are contained in the Environment Code, which aims at harmonising existing environmental legislation by assembling it in one legislative framework.

EU environmental law has to be expressly based on one or more provisions of the Amsterdam Treaty, the most common in the environmental field being Art 94

(20)

(Approximative legislation with environmental dimension) and Art 174 (purely

environmental). For the purposes of approximation, the significance of the legal base of the EU law in question is first of all that it will affect the ability of a country to impose stricter environmental standards than those contained in the EU law in question. For example, if a directive is adopted on the basis of Article 174, a Member States have more opportunity to adopt stronger national measures than if it is adopted on the basis of Article 94.

European Parliament

The European Parliament represents the 370 million citizens of the Union, its primary objectives are to pass laws, to scrutinise and control the use of executive power. The number of members of the European Parliament is limited to 700, which ensure an appropriate representation of each Member State.

Originally, the Treaty of Rome (1957) gave the Parliament only a consultative role, allowing the Commission to propose and the Council of Ministers to decide legislation. The

responsibilities of the European Parliament have been gradually widened and its powers strengthened (stepwise over Single Act of 1987, Maastricht Treaty 1992 and Amsterdam Treaty 1997). It has now a genuine co-legislator role together with the European Council. At present, there are three legislative procedures, i.e. co-decision, assent and consultation. The European Parliament has influence to amending and even adopting legislation. Parliament and Council now share the power of decision in a large number of areas.

The European Parliament decides on expenditures like regional funds and environmental projects in close co-operation with the Council. Monitoring of expenditure is the continuous work of the Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control which seeks to make sure that money is spent for the purposes agreed and to improve the prevention and detection of fraud. The European Parliament approves the Union's budget each year. The budgetary procedure allows the Parliament to propose modifications and amendments to the Commission's initial proposals and to the position taken by the Member States.

The European Parliament adopted in 1996 the introduction of additional measures to make its execution more sensitive to environmental issues. The Commission acknowledges the aim underlying this proposal to increase the environmental dimension of budgetary execution. The EU Parliament has two Committees that are crucial for infrastructure decisions: the Environmental and the Transport Committee.

European Commission

The European Commission has 20 Commissioners and 15 000 staff. It is the core institution of the EU. The Commission manages the Union's annual budget (1999: BECU 83). It has three distinct functions: initiator of proposals for legislation, guardian of the Treaties, and the manager and executor of Union policies and of international trade relations.

Since 1999, the Commission is divided into 26 directorates-general (DGs) with additional 15 specialised services. Each DG (e.g. transport and energy) is headed by a director-general, reporting to a Commissioner who has the political and operational responsibility for the work of the DG.

(21)

The Commission is obliged to be completely independent from their national governments and to act only in the interests of the European Union. Its proposals, actions and decisions are in various ways scrutinised, checked and judged by other European institutions (exception European Investment Bank). It does not take the main decisions on Union policies and priorities, this is the prerogative of the Council and, in some cases, of the European

Parliament. The impartiality and commitment enables the Commission to mediate conflicts of interest between Member States when needed.

The Commission’s executive responsibilities are wide:

• deciding details of Council legislation

• introducing of preventive measures for a limited period to protect the Community market from dumping by third countries

• enforcing the Treaty's competition rules and regulates mergers and acquisitions above a certain size.

The European legislative process begins with a Commission proposal. In devising its

proposals, the Commission has three constant objectives: to identify the European interest, to consult as widely as necessary and to respect the principle of subsidiarity. Once the

Commission has formally sent a proposal for legislation to the Council and the Parliament, the Union's law-making process is very dependent on effective co-operation between the three institutions.

The Commission ensures that Union legislation is correctly applied by the Member States. If they break their treaty obligation, they will face Commission action, including legal

proceedings at the Court of Justice.

Some DGs have particular influence on the shaping and managing of European policies and programmes that are in connection with transport, environment and the different funds. Three DGs are described more detailed as they are important institutions concerning this study. Directorate General Energy and Transport

DG Energy and Transport's mission is to work with national, regional and local authorities, business and non-governmental organisations to improve the way in which Europe's energy and transport system serves the economic, environmental and social aspirations of European citizens.

The DG’s main areas in the field of transport are set out in the

White Paper on the Common Transport Policy’ and the ’Common Transport Policy action plan’ for the years 1998-2004:

• environmental, safety and social standards for transport competition,

• market forces and fair and efficient pricing in transport

• catalysing investment in transport

• supporting research and technical development in transport

• transport links with countries outside the European Union

The DG Transport is a key-actor within the European transport policies and directly co-operates with the Commission, the Council of Transport Ministers and the European

Investment Bank. From year 2000 DG Transport has been merged with Energy issue to form “GD TREN”.

(22)

Within the European Commission, DG Environment (new name GD ENVIRON) is

responsible for the environment, nuclear safety and civil protection policies. The DG has five sub-directorates, but none of the latter is dedicated to transport. The DG’s main objectives within its European environmental policy are:

• environmental protection within the European Union

• improvement of the quality of life

• preservation of the rights of future generations to a viable environment

• ensuring equitable use of our common environmental resources and increased environmental efficiency

Important environmental strategies and measures are anchored in the European decision documents ‘Towards sustainability’ which sets the framework for the fifth environmental framework of the years 1993 to 1999 and is followed by the 6th framework from year 2000 on. Natura 2000 includes regulations for the protection of valuable European habitats. These regulations have strong impact on the elaboration of regional projects and on the forming of the Structural Funds which are under the responsibility of DG Regional Policy. The latter constitute one of the most important financial instruments to support the implementation of Community environmental policies through a decentralised management of global grants. The most prominent mechanisms of the Structural Funds for promoting the process of environmental integration are the application of the 'polluter-pays' principle (part of the general environmental policy), environmental assessments and evaluations at all relevant stages of programme design as well as implementation and targeted partnerships including authorities, enterprises and the general public at different geographical levels.

The DG Environment stands for the implementation of the European environmental policy in the Member States and has subsequently a wide range of networks to national and non-governmental institutions. Current funding opportunities available from DG Environment do not directly include transport measures, but it is possible to provide environment related funding to other Directorates Generales (e.g. funding within Funds or environmentally targeted transport measures).

Directorate General Regional Policies

Directorate-General Regional Policies (new name GD REGIO) is the department of the European Commission that is responsible for Community action to reduce the gaps in socio-economic development between the various regions of the European Union in accordance with Article 130a and 130c of the Treaty. In pursuit of these objectives, the DG’s main responsibilities are the management of two major sorts funds:

• the European Regional Development Fund (as one of the four Structural Funds)

• the Cohesion Fund

By working in partnership with the competent regional and/or national authorities in the Member States, the DG uses these two Funds to co-finance programmes and projects that target structural assistance at the more disadvantaged regions of the Union.

Advising Committees

The Committee of the Regions is a consultative body (set in force by the Treaty on European Union, in 1994). Its objective is to guard the principle of subsidiarity that means that

decisions should be taken by those public authorities, which stand as close to the citizen as possible.

(23)

The 222 members of the Committee are elected officials from the levels of regional government (e.g. regional presidents, mayors of cities or chairmen of city and county councils). The Committee brings expertise and influence to bear on the Union's other institutions especially in regional and infrastructure issues like trans-European networks, as well as issues of environmental protection.

The work of the Committee is based on a structure of seven standing Commissions, whereof three are important in regard of Funds, transport and environment:

• Regional policy, Structural Funds, economic and social cohesion, cross-border and inter-regional co-operation

• Trans-European Networks, transport, information society

• Spatial planning, urban issues, energy, the environment.

A constant theme running through its opinions is the involvement of the regions and localities in the design and implementation of infrastructure polices.

The Economic and Social Committee (ESC) utters its opinion to all vital issues of the Union. The ESC is an advisory body that gives Europe's economic and social partners (employers, trade unions, representatives of SMEs, transport associations, consumers, etc.) the possibility to issue their formal opinion on EU policies. The ESC gives important inputs to discussions and decision-making concerning the scope of European Funds and transport infrastructure. There is a special section of the ESC dealing with transport and infrastructure issues.

European Environment Agency

The Regulation EEC/1210/90 established the European Environment Agency (EEA) with a seat in Copenhagen. The former Regulation was recently amended by the Council Regulation 99/933/EC, which describes the tasks of the EEA.

Its purpose is to provide the Community and Member States with reliable and comparable information on the state of the environment in co-operation with the European environment information and observation network. The Member States are obliged to inform the Agency of the main component elements of their national environment information networks.

The principal areas of work of the Agency are very wide spread: air and water quality; state of the soil, fauna and flora; land use and natural resources; waste management; noise emissions; chemical substances; protection of coastal areas and the marine environment. In these fields of action the EEA carries out the following functions:

• recording, collecting, assessing and transmitting data on the state of the environment;

• providing the Community and the Member States with the objective information that they require to draw up and implement appropriate and effective environment policies;

• helping to monitor environmental measures;

• working on the comparability of data at European level;

• promoting the development and application of environmental forecasting techniques;

• ensuring that reliable information on the environment is widely circulated. These functional tasks cover five main subjects whereof transport is a major one.

(24)

European Court of auditors

This Court is the "financial conscience" of the Union. It shall guarantee that certain moral, administrative and accounting principles will be respected. The Court's reports are a rich source of information on the management of the Union's finances (e.g. funds), and a source of pressure on the institutions and others with administrative responsibility to manage them soundly.

European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's financing institution. It provides long-term loans for capital investment promoting the Union's balanced economic development and integration. In the European Union, EIB loans go to projects, which fulfil beneath others the following objectives:

• support of the economic progress in the less favoured regions

• improvement of trans-European networks in transport, telecommunications and energy transfer

• protection of the environment and quality of life, promoting urban development and safeguarding the EU's architectural heritage.

The Bank carries out a rigorous appraisal of each investment project, not only assessing its consistency with EU policies but also vetting its economic and environmental justification as well as its financial and technical viability.

The EIB's financing for regional development often goes hand in hand with grants from the EU's Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund. Ensuring that loans and grants are complementary brings the Bank into close collaboration with the Commission. The EIB is therefore involved in the preparation and implementation of structural support programmes.

The financing of trans-European networks (TENs) has a particular position. The EIB gives financial support to facilities for priority TEN-projects approved by the Essen European Council in December 1994. Together with the European Commission and the banking sector, the EIB has set up the European Investment Fund (EIF) to provide long-term guarantees for e.g.TENs and other road infrastructure projects.

European Investment Fund

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is an independent financial institution and, thus, usually not considered a part of European Community institutional system. It was established in 1994 in response to an invitation from the Heads of State and Government of the European Union at their summit in Edinburgh in December 1992. It is based on a public-private partnership in a joint venture between the European Investment Bank, the European Union (represented by the European Commission) and private and public financial institutions from all 15 Member States of the European Union.

Its main task is to support the integration of the European economy by promoting medium and long-term investment in the trans-European networks and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Unlike the EIB, the EIF is not a lending institution, nor does it provide or manage grants or subsidies. In the field of infrastructure the EIF acts as a catalyst in

facilitating the participation of private capital in TEN projects. This is done by provision of guarantee for loans for investments in the areas of energy, telecommunication and transports. SMEs are supported by guarantees for debt finance or by acquiring, holding and managing equity participation in venture capital funds. The EIF acts as a complement to the banking

(25)

sector, with which it shares risk, and in co-ordination with other EU financial institutions and instruments.

2.2 EU related Key-actors

The Union’s decision and political orientation are widely influenced by the policies and interest of its Member States. On the other hand there are many powerful organisations which co-operate with the Community. One example for such institutions is the European Bank for Reinvestment and Development.

Community Member States

Today there is strong tendency that the bigger Member States take over a guiding role for many important EU policy decisions such as the accession process or European transport networks. Countries like Germany, France or the UK are the main financial contributors to the Union’s budget and they will of course have an adequate influence on European policy. The Member States of the European Union usually have their own priorities and selections procedures concerning infrastructure projects. As the nature of road investments often is on a national basis (both financially and legally), the Member States preserve the final decision-making for them selves. Particularly the contents of regional development plans or

programmes are purely based on initiatives of Member States and afterwards adapted to Community requirements. The principle of Subsidiarity, which means that a decision should be taken at the lowest appropriate level, steers this procedure. The Member States have very different environmental legislative pre-conditions. This can evoke important differences both in the implementing of EU-environmental rules and the realisation of infrastructure projects (compare with the report “Environmental Goals for Sustainable Transport in Europe” of the Swedish Euro-EST project).

European Bank of Reconstruction and Development

The European Community and the European Investment Bank are two of the currently 60 members of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The rest of the shareholders are 58 countries, among those the 15 member states of the EU. The Bank was established in 1991 in response to major changes in the political and economic climate in central and Eastern Europe. It was created as an international institution to support the development of market economies in the region following the widespread collapse of communist regimes. Each member is represented on the EBRD’s Board of Governors and Board of Directors.

The EBRD’s core business is the financing of projects that advance the transition to market economies. It finances projects in both the private and public sectors. The requirement in the “Agreement Establishing the Bank” is that projects in the public sector should not exceed 40 per cent of the Bank’s total investments.

In conducting its core business, the EBRD prioritises among others the following areas (EBRD 1999a):

• building of a financial sector that serves the needs of the business community, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);

(26)

• infrastructure operations, seeking to promote commercialisation, to strengthen the institutional and regulatory framework, to expand the range of financing sources, and to encourage private sector involvement; and

• restructuring of large enterprises

By 1998, the EBRD aid in transport infrastructure totalled BEUR 1.8, which represents around 15 per cent of the contracts signed since its establishment. The main forms of EBRD financing are loans, equity investments and guarantees.

Detailed assessments of how the Bank’s projects will advance the transition occur at an early stage in the project processing cycle to ensure that operations are designed to achieve the highest possible impact in the region. The EBRD is committed to undertaking operations throughout the region and has signed projects in each of its 26 countries of operations. To co-ordinate local activities, the EBRD has established local offices in all of these countries. These offices are fully involved in generating new projects and in monitoring the growing number of Bank operations.

2.3 The legislative process

The European Union’s legislation has recently become stronger and wider. Many parts of national legislation have to take into account Brussels’ and Strasbourg’s decisions. Legislative issues often have considerable financial consequences for the Member States as they can provoke fundamental changes in either revenue or expenditure of the Member States. Especially transport projects have strong impact on the budgets of both the EU and the Member States because often very big amounts of money are invested. In these

moments the decision-making for or against certain measures or projects become very sensitive and can cause extensive decision processes.

In the basic European decision-making process a wide range of actors is involved. European Funds and TEN are part of different decision-making processes, which are dependent on various decision periods, stakeholder participation and external impacts. But in general, they are part of the same overall decision-making process within the European institutional framework.

The Amsterdam Treaty established a more efficient decision-making procedure for e.g. environment or transport policies, replacing unanimity in the Council by qualified majority voting as the general rule. However, the arrangements were still complex, with three different procedures existing side by side:

Consultation procedure, which requires an opinion from the Parliament before a legislative proposal from the Commission can be adopted by the Council

• Co-operation procedure (Art 252) allows the Parliament to improve proposed legislation by amendment. This includes two readings in Parliament, giving members ample

opportunity to review and amend the Commission's proposal and the Council's

preliminary position on it. This procedure applies to e.g. European Regional Development Fund and EU transport policy.

• Co-decision procedure (Art 251) shares decision-making power equally between the Parliament and the Council. A conciliation committee - made up of equal numbers of Members of Parliament and of the Council, with the Commission present - seeks a compromise on a text that the Council and Parliament can both subsequently endorse. If

(27)

there is no agreement, Parliament can reject the proposal outright. The co-decision procedure applies e.g the Trans-European Networks.

A particular status is given to the environmental issues. It has the status of a policy in its own right and made qualified majority voting in the Council the general rule. The only exceptions are matters such as environmental taxes, town and country planning and land use (important Fund matters), where unanimity remains the norm.

The vast majority of EU environment legislation is in the form of Directives that must be subsequently put into national law. Decisions about the different Funds, European transport issues and environmental concerns are based on the Treaties of the EU and subsequent legislative regulations.

Figure 3 Legislative process of the European Union

Parliament 26 Directorates General European Council 15 Member States Commission Advising committees Treaties, regulations, directives and decisions ’New’ legislation Legislative initative Drafts Negotiations Advising Decisions and Co-decisions Corepers Support Figure: Inregia AB L eg is la ti v r e q u ir e m e n ts a n d e x te rn a l in fl u enc es

Transpostion, Implementation and Enforcement

Legislative power Interrelations

Implementation

When it comes to the adoption of Community law, normally the so-called ‘approximation of Community law’ is entering into force. It is an obligation of membership in the European Union. It means that countries of the European Union must adapt their national laws, rules and procedures in order to give effect to the entire body of EU law contained in the ‘Acquis Communautaire’.

This procedure has three key elements:

• Transposition, which includes the adoption or change of national laws, rules, and

procedures so that the requirements of relevant EU-law can be fully incorporated into the national legal order. The Member States can choose the most appropriate national

mechanism to reflect Union environmental obligations

• Implementation or Practical Application wherein the national laws, institutions and budgets are aligned with the European law

(28)

• Enforcement where the Member States provide the necessary controls and penalties to ensure that the law is being complied with fully and properly

These Community measures require that Member States either maintain existing national provisions to protect the environment or introduce new national provisions to protect the environment. In the first case, the Member State must notify the Commission and give its reasons for maintaining those national provisions. In the second case, the Member State must again notify the Commission of the new national provisions and explain its reasons for introducing them. Moreover, those measures must be based on new scientific evidence and must be in response to a problem that specifically affects the Member State.

An important factor of national influence to Community policies is the rotation of the EU presidency that is led by the so-called ’Troïka’. It consists of the Member State, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council, the Member State, which held it for the preceding six months and the Member State which will hold it for the next six months. The Troïka is assisted by the Commission and represents the Union in external relations coming under the common foreign and security policy. During the presidency of a certain Member State some of its own national priorities, which should implemented on Community level, can be more easily carried through.

3. Political guidelines for transport and environment

The European Union has successively enlarged its impact on territorially significant policies that include the transport sector as a key factor for spatial development. National or regional policies, programmes and plans are considerably influenced by European Treaties and rules, which since the beginning of the 1990s successively included aspects as regional

development, transport and environmental issues.

In most cases the objectives of EU policies do not have direct spatial orientation, but they strongly influence the territory, which means landscapes, habitats, flora and fauns of the Member States. The environmental impact depends on the specific EU interventions. Financial interventions (e.g. income support, regional structural measures or research

programme financing), legislative interventions (e.g. market liberalisation, competition rules or environmental legislation) or physical interventions (e.g. European transport corridors, energy supply) intervene in land use and influence the behaviour of the different European political players.

Of special interest for this study are those policies and rules that directly intervene in the field of transport infrastructure.

3.1 The EU Treaties

The task of the European Community is to promote a balanced and sustainable development through strengthening economic and social cohesion. These goals are to be realised by means of the creation of the common market, an economic and monetary Union (11 Member States) and the implementation of European policies and measures, which expressly include common environmental and transport policies.

Some Treaty provisions, successively developed from the Rome Treaty, the European Single Act then via the Maastricht Treaty to the Amsterdam Treaties, have concrete implications on

Figure

Table 1 Case Studies (part B)
Figure 1 Overview chapters
Figure 2 European Institutions European Parliament European Commission EIBCourt ofAuditors Committee of the Regions Member States EuropeanCouncil
Table 2 Binding EU legislation types
+7

References

Related documents

46 Konkreta exempel skulle kunna vara främjandeinsatser för affärsänglar/affärsängelnätverk, skapa arenor där aktörer från utbuds- och efterfrågesidan kan mötas eller

implemented in 2016, includes similar collaborative tools and activities as the basic model, but also other procurement related components such as: early involvement of contractors

1) Performance driven design test loop: From a control theoretical perspective a WSN as it is displayed in Figure 8, is a complex interconnected dynamic system. Each node is

A period of “Europisation” has been replaced by growing regionalism and maybe even nationalism. Earlier experiments with an extensive European community deterred. The EU is good,

The research uses the focus on the two approaches to get an understanding of how this (institutional) context at the national level and the targeted intervention approach are used in

Therefore, this study commenced by identifying these three facets in the legal rules governing flood defense infrastructure in England, France, Sweden, and the

To protect societal functions during an event of power shortage, Sweden has implemented a multi-level planning process called S tyrel , which involves national-, region-

Industrial Emissions Directive, supplemented by horizontal legislation (e.g., Framework Directives on Waste and Water, Emissions Trading System, etc) and guidance on operating