1. Hearing in the European Parliament Brussels, 23 March 2017
Atlantic Corridor
European Coordinator
Prof. Carlo Secchi
Hearing in the European Parliament Brussels, 23 March 2017

2. Key Corridor features Strong maritime component
13 core ports (Sea &/ IWW)
RFC 4 as land backbone
4 Member States
4 cross-border sections
Linking 3 capitals, crossing their large urban nodes (among others)
Two gauges: UIC and Iberian
Madrid

3. State of Play – perspectives 2030
Key challenges

4. Major achievements
End of Works for Tours-Bordeaux HSL – largest PPP on railway in the world (7.8 B EUR) thanks to by EU Guarantee (LGTT) and EIB Loan; operations by July 2nd - Paris-Bordeaux in 2h; spare capacity on the conventional line for freight.
Launch of the Port Accessibility fund in Spain, supported by EFSI; investments launched on most ports (PT, ES, FR)
Progress on the governance with the group ES-PT on Interoperability

5. Investments needs
A total investment volume of Bn EUR planned along Corridor to reach full compliance with TEN-T standards
Ongoing investments for above 11 Bn EUR
3 Bn EUR CEF & ERDF grants already allocated on the Corridor (amounting to about 7 Bn EUR of projects activated)
Projects worth 5 Bn EUR triggered by Financial instruments
A remarkable amount – estimated approximately in 7-8 Bn EUR - is needed to achieve the full rail interoperability in the Iberian peninsula

6. Update on the CBS Report
European Coordinators
Prof. Bodewig and Prof. Secchi
Hearing in the European Parliament Brussels, 23 March 2017

7. How to bridge the funding gap?
Investment needs
750 bn EUR ≠
Funds available
Across the EU, the demand for investments is much higher than the available funding
Transport and mobility sectors must find new ways to finance infrastructure to remain competitive

8. CBS Report: 12 Recommendations
Strengthening project pipeline
Capacity building, Advisory HUB, Jaspers, T. Assistance
Cutting the Red Tape
Permitting, procurement, state aids clearance
Broadening funding & financing
Integration of sources, internalisation, blending and pooling
A positive environment
Financial markets, PPPs treatment, involve stakeholders
e.g.: CBS Report provides 12 recommendations grouped in 4 blocks for a successfull outcome of Financial instruments:
First and foremost, we need to have a sound, stable, robust project pipeline: Annex I to CEF has been a remarkable exercise of concentration and joint planning, but beside that, kowledge sharing, notably on best practices, and capacity building is needed.
Cut the Red Tape: if the administrative burden takes so long and cast a shadow of regulatory risk, no project is good for project financing! The Commission & the EIB developed "fast tack" procedure for clearence on State Aids for EFSI; on-going study on Permitting, to better highlight what can go wrong in it. For Procurement specific know-how and procedures are needed, since PPP / Project Financing is a peculiar procurement, & adequate risk sharing is crucial.
Opportunities for generating revenues – including cross-financing – are to be sought for to enhance project rentability, and blenging of funding and financing can apply to a wide range of proejcts including the ones dealt with in this specific seminar.
But the overall framework for developing PPPs is needed in terms of financial regulation (the on-going revision of Solvency 2) to attract private souces, a clear treatment / procurement scheme to define their on/off-balance-sheet status, to create an incentive for the public sector.
…And the Commission is pushing in this direction, calling 6 important Member States (DE, IT, ES, PL, PT, SK) to act on procurement, permitting, project planning and preparation, in the framework of the EU Semester.

9. Measures taken so far since CBS report
Support the transport project pipeline
Clear identification of project pipeline: Core network Corridors / CEF-TEN-T framework synergic with Ex-ante conditionalities
Technical assistance (JASPERS, to a lesser extent EIAH)
Address key administrative issues
EC One-stop-shop set up for important EU Projects
State aid revision & fast-track for EFSI projects
Mapping/analysing permitting process (ad-hoc study just completed)
Broadening Funding and Financing
Blending guidance notes (ESIF-EFSI) & CEF Blending call
EFSI Pooling facilities and platforms (Greening of Shipping, …)
Financial Market, PPP, Stakeholders
Solvency II revised & Basel III on-going revision
EPEC/Eurostat guidance: clearer framework for PPPs
Ex-ante conditionality for Cohesion Policy: define a National Transport Master Plan with a mature Project Pipeline + Administrative Capacity enhancement
EC One-stop shop: Investment policy groups set by the SG per country to coordinate projects and speed-up clearance procedures.
State Aid: – on-going review of the General Block Exemption Regulation to include Ports, Airports
Permitting: study on facilitating project implementation / regulatory procedures
Solvency II: : Capital charges lowered for insurers' investment in infra projects. Lower risk calibration to be proposed this year for investments in infra corporates

10. Outlook: CBS Progress Report
Progress report on CBS recommendations:
Close follow-up of the twelve recommendations
Review of measures taken so far
Recommendations of what still needs to be done
To be issued in Autumn 2017

11. Thank you for your attention!
Mobility and
Transport