Rail Freight and TEN-T Corridors alligned and extended from Prague to German Seaports
2013/11/15
Question asked by: Edvard Kožušník (ECR)
Subject: Revision of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning a European rail network for competitive freight
On the basis of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning a European rail network for competitive freight the main routes for rail freight corridors (RFCs) have been defined. An extension of RFC 7‐ — Bucharest-Constanta, Prague-Vienna/Bratislava-Budapest, Vidin-Sofia-Thessaloniki-Athens — to the port cities of northern Germany has so far failed to find acceptance in the talks to secure agreement in the legislative process.
Although in the context of the current legislative process regarding the regulation on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network there is talk of an overlap between these corridors, I believe that in the interest of legal certainty a revision of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning a European rail network for competitive freight is also necessary.
My question is therefore as follows: is the Commission, with a view to establishing legal certainty and the logical continuity of the network of freight corridors, planning a revision of Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning a European rail network for competitive freight so as to ensure that the start of RFC 7 is not in Prague, but in the port cities of Hamburg and Rostock in northern Germany, or alternatively that the existing RFC 8 is extended as far as Prague?
Answer given by Mr Kallas on behalf of the European Commission
(05.11.2013)
Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning a European rail network for competitive freight defines in its Annex a total of 9 rail freight corridors, including the rail freight corridor 7 from Prague to respectively Constanta and Athens.
The Commission is aware of the market needs requiring an extension of rail freight corridor 7 to the port cities of Northern Germany. The European Coordinator for the TEN-T Priority Project 22 (Athina-Sofia/Constanta-Budapest-Wien-Praha-Nürnberg/Dresden) also advocated for an extension of the Priority Project to the Northern Ports of Germany, in line with traffic patterns.
In its Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, the Commission has proposed the establishment of Core Network Corridors to implement the Core Network.
To avoid any overlap, the European Parliament proposed to align these core network corridors with the rail freight corridors. The text of the proposal as agreed during the negotiations and to be approved by the co-Legislators amends the annex to Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 and ensures a geographical alignment between the Rail Freight Corridors and the Core Network Corridors.
The Rail Freight Corridors as amended by the proposal will constitute the rail dimension of the multimodal Core Network Corridors. Rail Freight Corridor 7 will become the ‘Orient/East Med’ corridor and will be extended from Prague to Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven, Rostock and Hamburg.