The Commission is submitting the "Trans-European Networks (TEN) 1999 Annual Report" to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions pursuant to Article 16 of Regulation 2236/95 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of Trans-European Networks.
As far as TEN are concerned, 1999 was a pivotal year, marked above all by the modification by the European Parliament and the Council of the TEN financial regulation, by their own approval of a EUR 4 600 million financial framework for the period 2000-2006 and by setting up of ISPA with a budget of EUR 520 million per year for major transport infrastructure works in central and eastern Europe applicant countries for the period 2000-2006. But 1999 already saw steady progress across the whole sector of trans-European networks and the emergence of Galileo as one of the most significant TEN projects.
Moreover, it should be added that most of the individual projects of common interest continued to make satisfactory progress. Some projects were completed and others became operational.
With regard to guidelines and other legal aspects, in 1999 the European Parliament and the Council:
- adopted the second phase of the IDA programme - Interchange of Data between Administrations;
- updated the list of TEN energy projects of common interest, adding 15 new projects and modifying four existing ones.
The Council also came to a political agreement on a "rail infrastructure package", including a proposed trans-European Freight Network.
In terms of reports and reviews, the Commission adopted a communication entitled "Galileo - involving Europe in the next generation of satellite navigation services"; received an independent external report evaluation of its financial support for transport projects; had carried out by independent experts a mid-term evaluation of the TEN energy programme and finally, published its first report on the implementation and impact of the high-speed train (HST) interoperability directive of 1996.
Lastly, in relation to the enlargement process and external relations, the European Parliament and the Council established ISPA and enhanced it with EUR 7 000 million for the period 2000-2006. Approximately 50% of this money will help finance transport infrastructure in the candidate countries. The Memorandum of Understanding for the development of Corridor IV was signed by the Ministers of Transport of the participating countries in May 1999. Moreover, the Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment (TINA)) final report was published in October 1999, bringing to an end the Commission's fact-finding mission to identify the necessary components for the future Trans-European Network on the territory of 11 candidate countries.�