Regulation (EC) No 923/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 1692/2006 establishing the second Marco Polo programme for the granting of Community financial assistance to improve the environmental performance of the freight transport system (Marco Polo II) (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 71(1) and 80(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),

Whereas:

(1) The mid-term review of the Commission’s 2001 Transport White Paper entitled ‘Keep Europe moving — Sustainable mobility for our continent’, of 22 June 2006, highlights the potential of the Marco Polo Programme, established by Regulation (EC) No 1382/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003 on the granting of Community financial assistance to improve the environmental performance of the freight transport system (the Marco Polo Programme) (3), as a source of financing that offers operators on congested roads alternatives by using other modes of transport. The Marco Polo Programme is therefore one basic element in the current transport policy.

(2) If no decisive action is taken, total road freight transport in Europe is set to grow by more than 60 % by 2013. The effect would be an estimated growth in international road freight of 20,5 billion tonne-kilometres per year for the European Union by 2013, with negative consequences in terms of additional road infrastructure costs, accidents, congestion, local and global pollution, environmental damage and the unreliability of the supply chain and of logistics processes.

(3) In order to cope with this growth, greater use must be made of short sea shipping, rail and inland waterways than at present, and it is necessary to stimulate further powerful initiatives from the transport and logistics sector, including dry ports and other platforms that facilitate intermodality, to encourage new approaches and the use of technical innovations in all transport modes and their management.

(4) It is an objective of the European Union to strengthen modes of transport that are environmentally friendly, irrespective of whether this objective leads to a specific modal shift or avoidance effect in the case of road haulage.

(5) According to Regulation (EC) No 1692/2006 (4) the Commission was required to carry out an evaluation of the Marco Polo II Programme (hereinafter ‘the Programme’) and submit proposals to amend that Programme if necessary.

(6) An external evaluation on the results of the Marco Polo Programme estimated that that Programme would not achieve its objectives in terms of modal shift and gave some recommendations for improving its effectiveness.

(7) The Commission has carried out an impact analysis of the measures proposed by the external evaluation and other measures aimed at increasing the efficiency of the Programme. That analysis showed the need for a number of amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1692/2006 in order to facilitate participation by small and micro enterprises, to lower the action eligibility thresholds, to increase the funding intensity and to simplify the Programme’s implementation and administrative procedures.

(8) The participation by small and micro enterprises in the Programme should be increased by allowing single undertakings to apply for funding and by lowering the eligibility thresholds for proposals submitted by inland waterway transport enterprises.

(9) The eligibility thresholds for proposals for funding should be lowered and expressed in terms of yearly tonne-kilometres shifted, except for common learning actions. Those thresholds should be computed over the entire implementation period of the actions referred to in the Annex, without setting any yearly rate of implementation. There should be no further need for a specific threshold applying to traffic avoidance actions, and a minimum duration should be established for this kind of action, catalyst actions and Motorways of the Sea actions.

(10) The funding intensity should be increased by introducing a definition for ‘freight’, in order to include the transport element in the calculation of the modal shift, and allowing exceptional extensions of the maximum duration for actions with start-up delays. The update of the funding intensity from EUR 1 to EUR 2 following the procedure set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1692/2006 should be reflected in the text of that Annex as amended.

(11) In order to simplify the implementation of the Programme, Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1692/2006 on funding conditions for ancillary infrastructure should be deleted. Furthermore the committee procedure for the yearly selection of actions to be funded should be eliminated.

(12) A more detailed link between the Programme and the Trans-European Transport Network (hereinafter ‘TEN-T’) setting out the framework for the Motorways of the Sea should be established and the environmental considerations should be extended to include the whole external costs of the actions.

(13) Regulation (EC) No 1692/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(14) In order to ensure that the measures provided for in this Regulation can be applied in the most expedient and speedy manner, this Regulation should enter into force as soon as possible after its adoption,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1692/2006 is hereby amended as follows:

‘1.   Actions shall be submitted by undertakings or consortia established in Member States or participating countries, as provided for in Article 3(3) and (4).’;

‘Article 7 State aid Community financial assistance for the actions covered by the Programme shall not prevent those actions from being granted State aid at national, regional or local level, insofar as such aid is compatible with the State aid arrangements laid down in the Treaty and within the cumulative limits established for each type of action set out in the Annex.’;

‘Article 8 Submission of actions Actions shall be submitted to the Commission in accordance with the detailed rules issued pursuant to Article 6. Submissions shall contain all the information necessary to enable the Commission to make its selection in accordance with the criteria set out in Article 9. If required, the Commission shall provide assistance to applicants to facilitate their application process, for instance by way of an online helpdesk.’;

‘Article 15 Repeal Regulation (EC) No 1382/2003 is hereby repealed, with effect from 14 December 2006. Contracts relating to actions within the framework of Regulation (EC) No 1382/2003 shall continue to be governed by that Regulation until their operational and financial closure.’;

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Strasbourg, 16 September 2009.

For the European Parliament The President J. BUZEK

For the Council The President C. MALMSTRÖM

(1) Opinion of 24 March 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(2) Opinion of the European Parliament of 23 April 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 27 July 2009.

(3) OJ L 196, 2.8.2003, p. 1.

(4) OJ L 328, 24.11.2006, p. 1.