ECU 280 million for trans-European transport networks in 1996
The European Commission has announced that it awarded a total of ECU 280 million for projects in the trans-European transport networks (TEN-Transport) from the TENs budget. The majority of this funding (75%) went to the 14 priority projects agreed at the Essen European Council in December 1994. The funding was used for a mixture of feasibility studies, interest rebates and direct grants. The 1996 funding is some ECU 40 million greater than the 1995 total of ECU 240 million. The breakdown for 1996 was: - Essen priority projects: ECU 211.23 million; - Traffic management: ECU 49.65 million; - Other projects of common interest: ECU 19.12 million. The greatest proportion (62%) of the funding went to rail transport projects, including combined transport projects. Some 22% went to traffic management, and 12% to road projects, with the remainder split between sea/ports, air transport and inland waterway projects. The Commission has planned to spend around ECU 352 million from the TENs budget on transport projects during 1997, with an additional ECU 100 million from the PHARE programme for transport infrastructure cross-border projects involving Central and Eastern European countries. European Union funding for the TENs also comes from the European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund, as well as the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund.