South East European Transport Axis Cooperation

1. South East European Transport Axis Cooperation Project Content and Description Corridor X Steering Committee Meeting Belgrade, 21-22 January 2009

2. Project Details • Partners • Central European Initiative (CEI) • South East Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) • Austria (Mo Transport Innovation and Technology) • Albania (Mo Public Works Transport and Telecommunications) • Bulgaria (Mo Transport, Information, Technology and Communications) • Croatia (Mo Sea, Transport and Infrastructure) • Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Mo Transport and Communications) • Greece (Mo Infrastructure, Transport and Networks) • Italy (Mo Infrastructure and Transport & Mo Environment Sea and Land Protection) • Montenegro (Mo Maritime Affairs and Transport) • Romania (Mo Transport) • Slovenia (Mo Transport) • Republic of Serbia - Office of the President • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki • European Academy of Bozen (EURAC) • INFORMEST • Observers • Hungary (Mo Transport, Telecommunication and Energy) • Bosnia and Herzegovina, (Mo Communications and Transport) • Slovakia (Mo Transport, Posts and Telecommunications) • Ukraine (Mo Transport and Communications) • IV • V • VII • VIII • IX • X • Pan European Corridors Period of implementation2009 – 2012 Funded by European Regional Development Fund & Instrument for Pre-Accession

3. Project Aims • Integration of the Pan-European Transport Corridors in the South East Europe Transport Axis as an essential part of the transport networks connecting EU with the neighboring countries. • Transnational cooperation between Ministries of Transport, Pan European Corridors Steering Committees and Secretariats belonging to the SEE Transport Axis, in order to accelerate the completion of the transport networks connecting EU with the neighboring countries and to improve the accessibility and cohesion of the SEE region. • Identification of common problems of Pan-European Corridors and solutions in order to attain the common mobility standards (for goods and people) for the entire European territory. • Identification of scenarios and interventions needed by the infrastructure and the transport policies in the area.

4. Project Anticipated Results • Establishment of a permanent institutional framework in SEE countries by strengthening the existing structures, supporting the joint cooperation through regular meetings of Ministers of Transport, Corridors Steering Committees and Secretariats with the EU Coordinators; • Common assessment of SEE by analysis of existing databases, transport demand analysis and modeling, evaluation of social, environmental and economic impacts; • Development of sustainable, multi-modal transport scenarios, identification of good practices and recommendations for common guidelines; • Identification of priority projects & pilot actions and specification of the financial instruments to support their implementation; and • Development of a common Spatial Plan compatible with the SEE Core Network Action Plan.

5. Content of the project (1/3) • WP1 TRANSNATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND COOPERATION LP: CEI, Secretariat of Corridor V (IT) • - Institutional coordination to build an effective SETA framework and network in • compliance with recent EU transport policies • WP2 COMMUNICATION AND DISSEMINATION LP:INFORMEST (IT) - Elaboration of a Communication Plan - Implementation of a set of communication tools. - Organization of annual conferences of the Ministers and related DG, representatives of Ministries of Transport (representing both the SEETAC and SEE Transport Axis SC). • WP3 ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING DATABASES & ESTABLISHMENT OF A JOINT INFORMATION SYSTEM • LP:Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology of Austria • - Establishment of a unified database management system. • - Collection of existing data related to transport in SEE, facilitating the implementation of the other WPs.

6. Content of the project (2/3) • WP4 DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE, MULTI-MODAL TRAFFIC SCENARIOS LP:Ministry of Transport of Slovenia - Data analysis – Software development – Reports prepared based on traffic and SEA modeling and development scenarios. - Definition of SEA & EIA Guidelines in accordance with EC guidelines and harmonization of the different nationalguidelines. - Identification of transport standards variations between participating countries. - Analysis of the benefits offered by the SEE transport Axis to territorial cohesion and spatial integration to facilitate the rapid implementation of the transport infrastructures, especially of the cross-border sections.

7. Content of the project (3/3) • WP5 IDENTIFICATION OF SOURCES FOR INVESTMENT FOCUSED ON SELECTED PILOT PROJECTS LP:University of Thessaloniki, Secretariat of Corridor X - The examination of the final scenarios will be performed in WP4, based on the outputs of traffic and environmental models, taking into account internal & external costs (economic growth, traffic trends, environment protection), as well as the social, economic and environmental impacts of the different options related to the implementation (or no-implementation) of the different tracks of the SEE transport routes. - Identification of the priority projects, as well as some pilot actions that could be immediately implemented through the identified public & private financial resources. • WP6 FINALIZATION OF SEE SPATIAL PLANNING & TRANSPORT AXIS STRATEGY LP:SEE Transport Observatory (SEETO) - Elaboration of a strategy and an action plan for the development of the accessibility and the mobility of South East Europe. Integration of the existing SEE Core Network Action Plan and the national transport strategies. - Presentation to the Ministries of Transport and Environment of South East Europe and adoption of the Action Plan as an instrument to direct the future infrastructure investments in the region.

8. Agenda of the 1st SEETAC Ministerial Meeting Bucharest, February 3 – 4, 2010 • Each participating country shall present its current state of play in corridors description, bottlenecks, cross-border problems, recent traffic studies on Corridor sections, investment plans and identification of ministerial priorities within SEETAC project. • Discussion on a possible general SEETAC strategy (e.g., reinforce transport links and cooperation between Adriatic sea, Danube river and Black sea). • Discussion on the following topics: • identification of policy actions to be implemented within the project in rail, maritime, logistic sector multi-modal traffic solutions. • possibility of signing an Agreement or a Letter of Intent within the framework of the Project. • content of possible Agreement: establishment of a Regional Steering Committee. • promotion of identified actions in maritime, rail sector, in order to develop specific transport axis/corridors, procedure and Draft plan of actions and the involvement of EU Institutions (Commission, Committee of Regions, etc.).