Response from the Danish Government

to the Commission Working Document:

Consultation on the Future Trans-European Transport Network

Policy (COM (2010) 212)

The Danish Government considers the development of the trans-Europeantransport networks (TEN-T) to be a very important element in the contributionfrom the transport sector to the general economic development within theEuropean Union and in particular to the realization of the Internal Market. Thenetworks also play an important role in responding to environmental andclimate change challenges and have further potential in this regard.Since the mid nineties the concept of trans-European transport networks hasprovided an essential contribution to the realisation of major infrastructureprojects across the European Union. A successful example of this is the FixedLink across Oresund, which was opened in 2000 and now is a decisive elementin the integration of the Copenhagen-Malmo region across Oresund.Priority project no. 20 (railway corridor between Oresund and Hamburg –(Hannover) including a fixed road and railway link across the Fehmarn Belt)also shows that the present legal framework has worked well. Based on a treatysigned by Denmark and Germany in September 2008, the work on design andconstruction of the Fixed Link across the Fehmarn Belt is now ongoing. Theproject is scheduled to be finalised in 2018, including the railway connectionsin the hinterland of the Fixed Link. This means that the major part of theexpected increase of goods transport between Scandinavia and the EuropeanContinent can be by rail within the framework of TEN-T.The Danish Government believes that the concept of trans-European transportnetworks should continue as an essential element in the development of keytransport infrastructure within the European Union, along with national plansfor transport infrastructure. It is important that member states still have theflexibility to set their national priorities.The Danish Government supported option 3 from the Commission’s GreenPaper, a two layer-model with a comprehensive network, a core network basedon priority projects and an instrument for defining new priority projects. Hencethe Danish Government welcomes that this option is the starting point for

further elaborations on the future guidelines for the trans-European transportnetworks in the Commission’s consultation paper.The Danish Government agrees that the current priority projects should serveas the basis for the (coming) core networks, and that any future financialregulation makes sure that these projects can be funded as planned.It is the view of the Danish Government that the development and theapplication of intelligent transport systems (ITS) should play a significant rolewithin all transport modes in the future TEN-T policy. Therefore, the Danishposition is in line with the working document’s emphasis on ITS.As far as the concept of ‘Motorways of the Sea’ is concerned, the DanishGovernment underlines the need for continued focus on general infrastructureinvestments when funding specific projects.The further development of the TEN-T policy should focus on the interactionbetween the transport modes (co-modality), including ports. This calls foroptimising access from the seaside to ports and hinterland rail and roadconnections to/from the ports. Inland waterways must be taken into accountwhere appropriate. Finally, the efficiency of ports must be seen as an importantcontributor to the development of the competitiveness of short sea shipping.The Danish Government has a positive view of the proposed merging of thefinancial regulation and the TEN-T-guidelines into one instrument in order tocreate a more coherent structure.In case the role of the European coordinators is to be increased to include alsosmaller infrastructure projects, the Danish Government considers it to be ofimportance that it is still up to the member states to decide whether or not aEuropean coordinator should be affiliated the respective project.