12th Florence intermodal forum investing into transport infrastructures : where to focus?

The first 'Community Guidelines' for the development of the trans-European network were adopted in July 1996. These guidelines incorporated a 'Master Plan', detailing the connection of major national road, rail and waterway networks between Member States, with the aim of relieving major European bottlenecks by addressing issues such as capacity restrictions and cross-border incompatibility. The guidelines were amended in 1999 to include rules for the granting of EC and EU funding of Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) projects. These TEN-T guidelines incorporated a series of flagship 'Priority Projects' and allocated priority status according to their strategic importance and/or significant scale. In 2009, the EC took the decision to launch a TEN-T policy review, with a view to further developing TEN-T policy ahead of the (then upcoming) budgetary period, 2014 to 2020. The review assessed successes and failures of TENT policy between 1996 and 2009. In 2014 a new set of TEN-T guidelines were introduced, thus setting out a clear path forward for investment and action between 2014 and 2030.