THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) N° 2236/95 of 18 September 1995 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks, as amended by Regulation (EC) N° 1655/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and in particular Articles 5a(1) thereof,

Whereas:

1. The technical and financial efforts necessary to prepare and implement projects of common interest identified in Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community Guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network are generally spread over several years.
2. The smooth and timely financing of the most sizeable of the projects presents investors - whether public or private - with particular challenges. Investors, in setting up their programmes for these large, long-term projects, seek foreseeability and accountability with regard to allocations of Community financial aid.
3. In particular, private investors who, in preparing and implementing these projects, share the risk with the public investors, call for legal certainty that Community financial aid will continue in one or several future years if implementation proceeds as planned.
4. The priorities established in Decision No 1692/96/EC for the development of the trans-European transport network, and in particular those priorities which have been re-confirmed by various Community institutions, should be the main focus in granting financial aid to projects of common interest. The Indicative Multiannual Programme envisaged in Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 should therefore be composed so as to support those priorities to the maximum possible extent and in the most efficient way.
5. Twelve individual projects of common interest and four coherent groups of projects of common interest have been identified as components of the Indicative Multiannual Programme.
6. Regulation n° 2236/95 provides, in its article 18, for a total financial framework of 4,600 million euros for the period 2000 - 2006 (for all sectors of the trans-European networks). Of this amount, the Commission has allocated 4,170 million euros to the trans-European transport network. Of this amount, a maximum of 3,127.5 million euros can be allocated to the different components of the indicative multiannual programme; this corresponds to 75 % of 4,170 million euros (i. e. the maximum allowable under the programme according to article 5a of Regulation n° 2236/95).
7. The total amount provided for under the Indicative Multiannual Programme may fall below the maximum allowable amount of 3,127.5 million euro.
8. The amount actually programmed has been subject to the procedure provided for in Regulation (EC) No 2236/95, concerning the submission of applications by Member States or public or private bodies directly concerned, and the appraisal of applications by the Commission.
9. The Commission, when adopting annual decisions to grant aid in the framework of the Indicative Multiannual Programme, is fully bound by its obligations under the Financial Regulation of the European Communities regarding sound and efficient financial management.
10. The Indicative Multiannual Programme should provide some flexibility in order to be able to take account, in the annual granting of financial aid to Member States and public or private bodies directly concerned, of unforeseen technical or financial developments in the projects.
11. The Commission, when adopting annual decisions granting aid under the Indicative Multiannual Programme, will aim to maintain the amounts indicatively programmed to the maximum possible extent and to take account as far as possible of Member States’ or promoters’ wishes regarding flexibility. However, the Commission, in accordance with its legal and financial obligations, may reduce amounts of aid actually granted or may withhold the granting of aid.
12. Subject to the annual decisions of the budgetary authority and/or conditions relating to the components of the programme, the total amount of aid granted in the framework of the indicative multiannual programme in one particular year may fall below or exceed the total amount provided for in the programme for that year.
13. The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee established under Article 17 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2236/95,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

The Commission, on the basis of applications for financial aid and relevant additional information submitted to it by Member States and, as appropriate, public or private bodies directly concerned, indicatively allocates the total amount shown in Annex I to the twelve individual projects of common interest and four coherent groups of projects of common interest listed in that Annex.

Annex I also shows an indicative distribution of the total amount among those projects and project groups during the currency of the programme, namely from 2001 to 2006.

1. In each year between 2001 and 2006 the Commission, using the Indicative Multiannual Programme as a reference framework, shall adopt decisions to grant financial aid to the individual projects of common interest and the coherent groups of projects of common interest.

These decisions shall be adopted on the basis of the general principles laid down in Article 3.

2. Subject to the conditions in Articles 4 and 6, the Commission may adopt decisions which lead to deviations from the amounts laid down in Annex I.

1. The granting of aid by the Commission shall be based:

1. in the first year, on applications, to be submitted in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 2236/95;
2. in each subsequent year, on annual progress reports, to be submitted in accordance with Article 7 (1) of this Decision.

1. For the purposes of Articles 12 and 15 of Regulation (EC) n° 2236/95, annual Commission decisions to grant aid under the Indicative Multiannual Programme shall cover projects of a suitable size and a homogeneous organisational set-up.
2. The indicative annual allocations per individual project of common interest and per coherent group of projects of common interest shall, as a general rule, be the sum of allocations to appropriate projects, as defined in paragraphs 4 and 5.
3. In the case of the individual projects of common interest specified in Annex I, the projects can take the form of project parts or of project stages. These parts or stages, meeting the relevant requirements as regards sound financial and technical management and monitoring, shall be as defined in Annex II of this decision. The Commission Decision to grant financial aid to projects under the Indicative Multiannual Programme for 2001, addressed to the Member States or organisations directly concerned, includes as Annex IV technical and financial details of these project parts and stages. This annex also constitutes the basis for the decisions to grant financial aid in subsequent years.
4. In the case of the coherent groups of projects of common interest , the projects shall take the form of clearly defined projects of common interest meeting all the relevant requirements as regards a proper financial and technical management and monitoring. These projects of common interest, shall be as defined in Annex II of this decision. The Commission Decision granting financial aid to projects under the Indicative Multiannual Programme for 2001, addressed to the Member States or organisations directly concerned, includes as Annex IV technical and financial details of these projects. This annex also constitutes the basis for the decisions to grant financial aid in subsequent years.
5. Under no circumstances shall the Commission take annual decisions to grant aid to parts or stages of individual projects of common interest or to projects of common interest forming the coherent project groups which are not included in Annex II of this decision and in Annex IV of the Commission Decision to grant financial aid to projects under the Indicative Multiannual Programme for 2001.

1. The Commission shall adopt its decisions under Article 2 on the basis of full information, to be provided in accordance with Regulation (EC) n° 2236/95, and pursuant to a systematic and effective monitoring and evaluation of the progress of the projects concerned.
2. Subject to actual project development, the Commission, in adopting annual decisions to grant financial aid, may deviate from the indicative amounts laid down, for parts or stages of individual projects of common interest and for the projects of common interest included in the coherent groups of projects of common interest, in Annex II of this decision and in and in Annex IV of the Commission Decision to grant financial aid to projects under the Indicative Multiannual Programme for 2001.

Consequently, the aid granted by annual Commission decisions to individual projects of common interest and to coherent groups of projects of common interest, per year and cumulatively during the currency of the programme may deviate from the corresponding indicative amounts established in Annex I.

3. Wherever the implementation of a part or stage of an individual project of common interest or of a project of common interest included in a coherent group of projects, as specified in Annex II of this decision and in Annex IV of the Commission Decision to grant financial aid to projects under the Indicative Multiannual Programme for 2001, has not started within two years following its forecast starting date, the Commission, acting pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation 2236/95, shall cancel the programmed allocations.
4. The sum of aid granted in subsequent annual Commission decisions to individual projects of common interest or to coherent groups of projects of common interest on the basis of the assessment of actual project development shall in no circumstances result in a global aid for the projects or project groups concerned which exceeds the corresponding global indicative amounts laid down in Annex I.

If, owing to the conditions set out in Article 4, in any particular year of the programme, the total allocation to its components for that year as established in Annex I is only partly translated into Commission decisions to grant aid, the remaining amount shall be allocated according to the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 2236/95.

1. Commission decisions to be adopted in any particular year of the currency of the Indicative Multiannual Programme pursuant to Article 2 shall be subject to the respective annual decision of the budgetary authority of the Community with regard to the overall level of appropriations for the trans-European transport network.
2. Increases or decreases in the overall annual budgetary appropriations in relation to the corresponding reference amount may influence the total amount of aid granted under the Indicative Multiannual Programme: consequently, the total amount of aid granted may fall below or may exceed the total amount set out in Annex I for the particular year.
3. Any increase in total annual budgetary appropriations may be used in the Multiannual Indicative Programme either by means of a pro-rata distribution of the corresponding additional amount to all programme components or, for the sake of flexibility, for the benefit of those projects which in the particular year concerned progress faster than foreseen.

In all circumstances, the granting of increased aid to any project shall be justified through the assessment carried out in accordance with Article 3 (1).

4. Any decrease in total annual budgetary appropriations may be transferred to the granting of aid in the framework of the Multiannual Indicative Programme, either through a pro-rata reduction of allocations to all programme components or by way of lower than programmed allocations to a limited number of components, reflecting particular difficulties in their development in the year concerned.

1. Any body responsible for the implementation of an annual Commission decision granting aid according to Article 2 shall at least once a year report to the Commission, via the Member State concerned, on the state of progress of the corresponding project. If necessary, the Commission may request additional reports.

The Commission may request full technical information in order to be able to appraise the project prior to the adoption of the decision to grant aid.

2. Any body responsible for the implementation of a project part or stage or of a project of common interest forming the coherent project groups, as specified in Annex II of this decision and in Annex IV of the Commission Decision to grant financial aid to projects under the Indicative Multiannual Programme for 2001, shall immediately inform the Commission, via the Member State or States concerned, if substantial changes in the implementation of such projects, parts or stages are foreseeable.

The Commission shall, after bilateral discussions with the bodies and/or Member State(s) concerned, assess whether such changes have an impact on the achievement of the objectives of the project or groups of projects concerned, and on the achievement of the Indicative Multiannual Programme as a whole.

3. The Commission shall inform the Committee set up by Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 every year of the progress of the programme and on the decisions it has adopted to grant financial aid under the Indicative Multiannual Programme.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 19-09-2001

For the Commission