The EU until recently supported the integration of transport networks in what is called the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) through specialized TEN-T funding awarded for specific national or cross-border projects, including Motorways of the Sea projects. The Marco Polo programme was the second leg of the EU’s co-funding mechanism with a relevance to maritime transport. It aimed at providing EU funds to companies whose projects shift cargo off the road and make transport more multimodal and thus more sustainable.

However, the TEN-T review process produced a new methodology with regard to infrastructure development in Europe for the period 2014-2020. The new TEN-T guidelines, as agreed by the European Parliament and Council in December 2013, are based on a new dualistic philosophy. The EU transport network will be divided between what is called the “core network” (centered on important transport axes crossing the continent) and the so-called comprehensive network (which encompasses all other hubs and axes).Priority will be given to the development of the former with a deadline of 2030 whereas the deadline for the development of the latter is the year 2050.

This new initiative will be financed through a new instrument, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which was also agreed upon late last year and has a budget of over 26 billion Euro.

The Marco Polo programme is set to merge with the TEN-T programme and will also be financed through the CEF.

What is more, the Commission is in the process of appointing the new TEN-T coordinators for the 2014-2020 period while last week a Communication entitled ‘Building the Transport Core Network: Core Network Corridors and Connecting Europe Facility’ was adopted, outlining the Commission’s ideas on the implementation of the Core Network of the TEN-T Regulation.

Finally, the Executives Agencies previously managing these two European co-funding programmes have also undergone changes. The TEN-T Executive Agency will from now on be called INEA (Innovation and Networks Executive Agency) and will manage parts of the new Connecting Europe Facility, as well as a part of the Horizon 2020 programme, the EU’s financial instrument for the research area. INEA will continue to manage the remaining 2007-2013 TEN-T Programme projects, as well as the remaining projects from the Marco Polo Programme, which it takes over from the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation.

The European Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation, which until now managed the Marco Polo programme, became the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), and will focus on a variety of EU programmes, including the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

The ‘Building the Transport Core Network: Core Network Corridors and Connecting Europe Facility’ Communication is available here

The new INEA website is available here

The new EASME website is available here