Commissie keurt financiering voor gecombineerd vervoer in Hongarije goed (en)

The European Commission today gave its agreement to the financing of the rolling motorway between the Hungarian town of Szeged and Wels in Austria. Between 2008 and 2011, the Hungarian government will part-finance the aid scheme to the tune of 2 980 million forints (€11.92 million).

The rolling motorway will transport heavy goods vehicles and crews by train between Szeged and Wels. State aid is needed to promote the use of this form of transport, which is less polluting than transport by road.

The Commission considers that the programme objective is in the interests of the Community and that the amount of aid is confined to the minimum required (30%). Also, the aid covers infrastructure costs that are not met by the road transport sector. It will be granted in a non-discriminatory and transparent way. In the Commission’s view, lastly, the scheme does not give rise to a distortion of competition to an extent contrary to the public interest.