EU Grants Co-Financing to Priority ProjectsThe European Commission has disclosed its proposals for funding the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) projects for the period 2007-2013. In its selection, the Commission has given priority to cross-border projects and environmentally friendly modes. Following the publication of four calls for proposals, the Commission received 221 project proposals. The support requested (more than EUR11.5 billion) largely exceeded the available Community budget of EUR5.1 billion. The selection of projects is a clear expression of the Commission's declared objective to concentrate available support, as far as possible, on critical cross-border sections. This is shown by the overall share of studies and works on cross-border sections, which accounts for 56% of total funding. The selected projects also meet the Commission's objectives for the sustainable development of transport. The share of rail is 74.2% (EUR3.9 billion).Regarding railway corridors, the Commission proposes to finance almost EUR4 billion on various priority projects. These include the important Brenner and Mont Cenis cross-border sections, which should help address environmental concerns in these sensitive mountainous regions affected by cross-alpine traffic flows. The Brenner is a tunnel of 63 km in total between Austria and Italy and the Lyon-Turin base tunnel under Mont Cenis between France and Italy stretches for 51.5 km. Both are proposed for EU funding, with EUR786 and EUR671.8 million respectively.A significant effort is made regarding the engineering studies. They are an indispensable part of the life-cycle of projects and therefore need to be given due attention. A good example is the cross-border studies for the Trieste-Divaca railway section, an important bottleneck between Italy and Slovenia. This concerns also the studies for the new high capacity freight line through the Pyrenees. Finally, bottlenecks on the priority projects which hinder traffic flows are proposed for funding. Examples include the Stuttgart-Ulm high speed line (EUR215.9 million) in Germany, the River Tagus crossing in Portugal, the City tunnel project in Malmö or the Valladolid-Vitoria-Bilbao-San Sebastian high speed rail link (EUR73.53 million) in Spain.High speed line Berlin-Palermo - Priority project 1A total of EUR193.3 million has been allocated to the studies for the Brenner base tunnel, while EUR592.6 million has been granted to its construction. Click here and at/16. The southern access to the Brenner base tunnel in Italy received EUR58.8 million for its studies and construction. Click it/103. Visit www.bbt-ewiv.comThe Kundl/Radlfeld-Baumkirchen railway in the Lower Inn valley in Austria, currently under construction, will receive EUR58.3 million. Click at/44, at/45, at/46, at/47, at/48 & at/56. Visit www.beg.co.atHigh speed line Southwest Europe - Priority project 2The new Tagus river crossing in Lisbon has been granted EUR51.3 million for the studies and construction. The crossing could possibly be a tunnel. Read E-News Weekly 35/2007.Funds have also been earmarked for the high speed line works in Spain's Basque region, i.e. EUR7.1 million for the Guipuzkoan section and EUR26.8 million for the Vitoria-Bilbao segment. Click es/100.The Perpignan-Figueras high speed rail section, where construction of the twin tunnel is well under way, has been granted EUR69.7 million. Click here, fr/16 & es/21.High speed line Lyon-Turin-Trieste-Ljubljana-Budapest-Ukrainian border - Priority project 6The EU also agreed to spend EUR671.8 million to finance the studies and works of the Lyon-Turin base tunnel between France and Italy during the period. Click here, fr/11 & it/80. Visit www.transalpine.com and www.transpadana.orgFurther east, the studies for the Ronchi South-Trieste section in Italy will receive EUR24 million while funding of the studies of the cross-border crossing Trieste-Divaca equals to EUR50.7. Both sections travel almost entirely underground.Nordic Triangle - Priority project 12Stockholm's northern ring road (Norra Länken) received EUR56.1 million for its construction. Click se/13. Read E-News Weekly 40/2007, 37/2007, 5/2007, 1/2007 & 30/2005. Visit www.vv.se/templates/page3____4101.aspxThe Malmö city tunnel, under build, will be financially aided up to EUR51.8 million. Click here & se/12. Read E-News Weekly 35/2007 & 22/2005. Visit www.citytunneln.seHigh capacity freight line Sines-Madrid-Saragossa-Paris - Priority project 16A meagre EUR5 million has been granted to pursue the studies of the base tunnel under the central Pyrenees between Spain and France. A 41.7 km tunnel between Biescas, Spain and Pierrefitte-Nestalas, France is envisaged at long term. Read E-News Weekly 5/2005, 20/2004 & 27/2002. Visit www.eurosud-transport.asso.fr/PDF/LivreBlancTCP_FR.pdf and www.transpirenaica.orgHigh speed line Paris-Bratislava - Priority project 17The second phase of the Paris-Strasbourg high speed line, between Baudrecourt in Lorraine and Vendenheim in Alsace, requires the construction of a 3.9 km tunnel under the Vosges. The EU has granted to the project a EUR18 million funding. Read E-News Weekly 46/2007. Further east, the Stuttgart 21 project received EUR114.5 million for the Stuttgart-Wendlingen section and EUR101.4 million for the Wendlingen-Ulm section. Click here. Visit www.stuttgart21.deHigh speed lines in the Iberian peninsula - Priority project 19The Madrid-Barcelona-French border line will receive EUR22.9 million. Click es/20.The Vigo-Ponte de Lima cross-border link, between Spain and Portugal, received EUR244.1 million for its construction. Southwardly from Vigo to the Portuguese border, extensive tunnelling is required. Read E-News Weekly 48/2007.High speed line Athens-Nuremberg-Dresden-Prague - Priority project 22EUR14.5 million has been allocated to the engineering studies of the Prague-Beroun section in the Czech Republic. A tunnel of at least 20 km in length is planned. Read E-News Weekly 17/2007 & 23/2006.Rail and road axis Ireland-UK-continental Europe - Priority project 26The studies of the interconnector tunnel between Heuston and Connolly stations in Dublin will be financed up to a level of EUR10 million. Read E-News Weekly 25/2005, 47/2004, 39/2004, 17/2003, 16/2003 & 52/2002. Visit www.transport21.ie/PROJECTS/METRO_-_LUAS/Navigation.html and www.rpa.ie/metro/about_metro/what_is_metro2007 annual TEN-T programmeIn 2007, a total of EUR112 million is available for the annual TEN-T projects. The aid to be granted on the basis of this annual work programme will be an important part of the EU financing for the trans-European transport network during the period 2007-2013. It will complement efforts under the multi-annual programme, but the annual programme will not support actions already supported under the multi-annual programme.Among the financially-aided projects this year there is the Abadiño-Durango high speed rail section in the Basque province of Biscay in Spain (EUR4.4 million) and the Marselis Boulevard tunnel project in Aarhus, Denmark (EUR4.2 million). Read E-News Weekly 22/2007.To view the full list of projects proposed for co-financing, visit http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/491&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en. 48/07.