EP stemt in met meer mogelijkheden EU-subsidie voor schoner transport (en)

Companies who participate in the shift from road to more environmental-friendly transportation such as rail and waterways will benefit from more opportunities for EU i funding, thanks to a regulation adopted by MEP is today, following an agreement brokered with Council i.

Marco Polo i is an EU funding programme which encourages the shift of freight transport from road to other, more sustainable and environmentally-friendly transport modes: rail, sea, and inland waterways. Freight transport companies who present projects which apply this "modal shift" are eligible for funding. To help smaller companies benefit from the programme, MEPs inserted a clause allowing consortia to apply for funding.

The current, second Marco Polo programme runs from 2007-13 with a budget of €450 million. At the end of 2008, the Commission i found that the programme had committed only 73% of the available budget for the financial year. The eligibility requirements therefore need to be reformed in order to encourage as many applicants as possible and to allow more and better funding of the projects.

The reform provides for:

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  Facilitating participation by small enterprises and consortiums,
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  Lowering the tonne-kilometre thresholds for eligibility,
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  Raising funding intensity (maximum grant intensity will be raised from €1 to €2 per 500 tonne-kilometres shifted off the road)
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  Simplification of the application procedures,         
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  Speedier payment of the funds.

Easier eligibility conditions

Modal shift actions aiming at shifting freight from road to other, more environment-friendly modes of transport will benefit from easier conditions for funding eligibility: the minimum threshold has been lowered to 60 million tonne-kilometres or its volumetric equivalent per year.

The minimum threshold for granting Marco Polo funding to "motorways of the sea" (projects of short-sea shipping) is lowered to 200 million tonne-kilometres or its volumetric equivalent of modal shift per year.

Modal shift actions aiming at implementing a shift to inland waterways will be subject to a threshold of 13 million tonne-kilometres or its volumetric equivalent per year.

Parliament's report, drafted by Ulrich Stockmann (PES, DE), was adopted by 581 votes to 7 with 5 abstentions.