EU funding for less congestion

The EU has a policy on intermodality and logistics, and one of its main aims is to reduce road congestion.

The EU directorate general of transport, Helmut Morsi, wishes to achieve this through initiatives such as'motorways of the sea'and other alternatives to road transport.

"We're thinking

So far the EU has managed to combine lour corridors,and has now started looking at intermodal global units that would work for all modes of transport.

"Hopefully we will have a new intermodal Europe,"says Morsi."We want intermodal loading units that are compatible with all modes of transport."

Twenty-five pallets fit inside an old-style container, whereas 33 can fit in the new European intermodal loading units.This means you can transport 40% more with the new units without occupying extra space on a ship.

"Please look at it with an open mind, "Morsi urges European logistics directors."Use the best service that is efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly."

He goes on to talk about the Marco Polo programme, an EU initiative that will run until 2010 looking for ways to ease road congestion, to make the freight transport system more eco-friendly and enhance intermodality.

"We created Marco Polo to take issues a step further,"he explains. "We have a huge increase in road transport traffic and most of it is national. We want to shift the national increase off the roads between 2003 and 2010."

The budget for the programme is euro110 million for the first three years.

"The money is for containers, bulk and any freight, but we'll only finance services, not research,"Morsi says."No administrations can take part,just industry and only international routes are eligible for funding."

The three types of actions eligible for funding are: modal shift, catalyst and common learning.

Modal shift action means shifting freight off the roads, and the money can only be used for this part of the project.The minimum funding you may request is half a million euros, which can only be a maximum of 30% of the cost of the project."These have to be huge projects,"Morsi stresses.

The catalyst action means the Commission will give you money to overcome structural market barriers, and euro1.5 million is the minimum pay out, again accounting for 30% of the cost.

"We don't look at how much is transported in volume, but the mode,"says Morsi."In catalyst action you have to be able to clearly define the market barrier.Then you must come up with an innovative way to deal with it and propose a modal shift business plan."

Common learning action is where at least two difference companies from two different countries are involved.The EU will fund 50% of such a project for two years, with a minimum of euro2 million. Such projects must prove, through a business plan, that they are viable even when the contract ends.

"We only want to give you a start up, but we want sustainable transport," says the directorate.'The law says you can transfer freight off the roads despite the competition,yet if your competitor has built a shipping line and you want one on the same route, it has to be much better or we will not fund it."

Between 11 October 2003 when the first call for proposals went out and this summer,92 suggestions came in, 87 of which were eligible for evaluation.The total cost of the 13 best actions proposed is euro364 million, triggered by euro15 million of taxpayers'money.

Morsi says that for every euro the programme spends spend governments will save euro15 on the accidents and maintenance costs of their own motorways.