The ECA (European Court of Auditors) audited the Commission’s management of the following 8 cross-border transport megaprojects in thirteen Member States:

1) Rail Baltica: a rail line connecting Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Poland and enabling a link to Finland (on the North Sea Baltic corridor);

2) the Lyon-Turin link: a cross-border rail link connecting France and Italy (on the Mediterranean corridor);

3) the Brenner Base Tunnel: a cross-border rail link connecting Austria and Italy (on the Scandinavian - Mediterranean corridor);

4) the Fehmarn Belt fixed link: a rail/road connection between Denmark and Germany (on the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor);

5) the Basque Y and its connection with France: a high-speed rail connection linking up Vitoria in Spain to Bordeaux in France (on the Atlantic corridor);

6) the Seine-Scheldt link: originally an inland waterway link between the rivers Seine and Scheldt, evolving into an inland waterway network in France and Belgium (on the North Sea Mediterranean and Atlantic corridors);

7) the A1 motorway in Romania (on the Rhine-Danube corridor);

8) the E59 railway line in Poland and its connection to the ports of Szczecin and Swinoujscie (on the Baltic-Adriatic corridor).

The eight TFIs (Transport Flagship Infrastructures) included in the Court sample belong to 7 of the 9  core network’s corridors.  These are key missing links for connecting national networks to create seamless European transport corridors. The total estimated cost of the selected  TFIs (Transport Flagship Infrastructures)  was EUR54.0 billion, of which the EU has paid €3.4 billion to date.

The Court found that the core network is unlikely to be operational by 2030, as was planned in 2013. The delays in the construction and putting into operation of these megaprojects put at risk the effective functioning of five out of nine TEN-T corridors. The Court found examples of poor planning and inefficient implementation. While the Commission’s oversight of the timely completion of the network has weaknesses and is distant, the Commission has a tool that can be built upon to improve performance.

To improve the sound financial management of these multi-billion euro investments, the Court makes a number of recommendations to support the long term planning, management and supervision of these multi-billion infrastructure investments.

Click here for the special report or and also visit the Europa website by clicking here 26/20.