Most of the transport infrastructures in European Union have been developed under national policy premises. In order establish a single, multimodal network that integrates land, sea and air transport networks throughout the Community, the European policymakers decided to establish the Trans-European transport network, allowing goods and people to circulate quickly and easily between Member States and assuring international connexions.
Establishing an efficient trans-European transport network (TEN-T) is a key element in the relaunched Lisbon strategy for competitiveness and employment in Europe. If Europe is to fulfil its economic and social potential, it is essential to build the missing links and remove the bottlenecks in our transport infrastructure, as well as to ensure the sustainability of our transport networks into the future. Furthermore, it integrates environmental protection requirements with a view to promoting sustainable development.
The European Community is supporting the TEN-T implementation by several Community financial instruments and by loans from the European Investment Bank.
The Guidelines outline the first steps of a comprehensive policy for closer integration of the EU transport system with neighbouring countries. This policy focuses on the main infrastructure for international transport and the legislation governing the use of these routes by different transport modes. Over time, it should lead to common rules and regulations for the transport sector as a whole and thus create an effective transport market involving the EU and its neighbours.
The five transnational axes identified are:
Motorways of the Seas: to link the Baltic, Barents, Atlantic (including Outermost Regions of Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira), Mediterranean, Black and the Caspian Sea areas as well as the littoral countries within the sea areas and with an extension through the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea;
Northern axis: to connect the northern EU with Norway to the north and with Belarus and Russia to the east. A connection to the Barents region linking Norway through Sweden and Finland with Russia is also foreseen;
Central axis: to link the centre of the EU to Ukraine and the Black Sea and through an inland waterway connection to the Caspian Sea. A direct connection from Ukraine to the Trans-Siberian railway and a link from the Don/Volga inland waterway to the Baltic Sea are also included;
South Eastern axis: to link the EU with the Balkans and Turkey and further with the Southern Caucasus and the Caspian Sea as well as with the Middle East up to Egypt and the Red Sea;
South Western axis: to connect the south-western EU with Switzerland and Morocco, including the trans-Maghrebin link connecting Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and its extension to Egypt.
