EU Sets Out Transport Investment Plan for EaP Countries

The European Commission released on January 15 an investment action plan for boosting transport connectivity within the Eastern Partnership region, and with the European Union.

The document – titled Indicative TEN-T Investment Action Plan – was developed with support from the World Bank and in collaboration with the governments and civil society organizations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

It is intended to assist the decision-makers in prioritizing strategic investments in transport infrastructure with the aim of completing the Trans-European Transport Network by 2030.

The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is an EU Commission policy aimed at the implementation and development of a Europe-wide network of roads, railway lines, inland waterways, maritime shipping routes, ports, airports and rail-road terminals.

Increasing transport connectivity, including through extending the TEN-T networks to the Eastern Partnership countries, is one of the benchmarks identified in the 20 Deliverables for 2020 – EU’s policy cooperation framework for the EaP region.

The TEN-T Investment Action Plan identifies priority projects in transport infrastructure construction and rehabilitation, some of which are already underway, while others require project preparation to allow for successful implementation by 2030.

These projects are worth a total of EUR 12.8 billion. According to the Investment Action Plan, implementation of these projects “will require the mobilization of private and public funds, high-quality project preparation and expedited implementation.”

The document identifies 18 priority projects in Georgia (worth a total of EUR 3.4 billion), including development of road, rail and port infrastructure and facilities. Six of the projects are underway, two will be completed until 2020, and the rest will be finalized by 2030.

The Eastern Partnership was launched in 2009 to promote political association and economic integration between the European Union and the six Eastern European partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)