EU investments in EaP transport infrastructure explained

What is the Trans-European Transport Network?

The EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy is a key instrument for planning and developing a coherent, efficient, multimodal, and high-quality transport infrastructure across the EU.

The network includes railways, inland waterways, short sea shipping routes and roads linking urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, airports and terminals.

TEN-T fosters efficient transportation for people and goods, ensures access to jobs and services, and enables trade and economic growth, thus strengthening the EU’s economic, social and territorial cohesion, and creating seamless transport systems across borders, without gaps, bottlenecks or missing links. It also aims to reduce the environmental impact of transport, and to increase the safety and the resilience of the network.

How does TEN-T fit into the EU’s aim to achieve stronger connectivity in the Eastern Partnership?

Stronger Connectivity – and the eastward extension of the TEN-T network – is a key priority for the Eastern Partnership. It was one of the 20 Deliverables identified at the Eastern Partnership Summit in 2017, and one of the top 10 targets (‘Enhanced Transport Interconnectivity’ with 3,000 km of priority roads and railways built or upgraded in line with EU standards with a focus on EU-Eastern partner trade routes) set for the Eastern Partnership beyond 2020.

An Indicative TEN-T Investment Action Plan, drawn up in 2019, identifies priority projects in each of the Eastern partner countries for a total of 4,800 km of road and rail, 6 ports, and 11 logistics centres with an estimated investment of almost €13 billion.

To back up these political priorities, the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan aims to mobilise €2.3 billion from the EU budget, and leverage up to €17 billion in public and private investments to sustainably transform the economies of the Eastern partner countries and make them more resilient and integrated.

In Moldova for example, transport connections are a key part of the Moldova Growth Plan, backed up by the €1.9 billion Reform and Growth Facility for Moldova, including new investment opportunities for the development of TEN-T priority border crossing points, as well as ensuring the integration of Moldovan railway systems into the EU system. Investment in connectivity is also one of the main pillars of the €270 million Resilience and Growth Plan in Armenia, aiming to mobilise investments in transport infrastructure to develop Armenia’s role as a logistics and transport hub in the region.

How is the EU going to build sustainable and secure transport infrastructure in EaP countries?

Following the publication of the Indicative TEN-T Investment Action Plan, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) began working on a facility to help EaP countries prepare transport connectivity infrastructure projects, collecting feedback from representatives of the Eastern partner countries, civil society and relevant IFIs during a meeting of EaP Transport Panel. In June 2019, EaP transport ministers agreed to set up a facility to assist partner countries in preparing and implementing priority TEN-T projects.

The result was an Advisory Support and Technical Assistance facility, the Facility for Eastern Partnership Investment in Connectivity (EPIC), developed by the EIB and launched as a joint initiative of the European Commission and the EIB, the the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank in early 2022.

EPIC aims to promote TEN-T infrastructure projects by combining advisory support and technical assistance to support priority connectivity investments in the EaP region, helping partner countries to prepare these investments in line with EU and international financial institution requirements.

What support is available under the EPIC programme?

EPIC offers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine free advisory support and technical assistance to improve transport connections through priority TEN-T investments in road, rail, air, maritime and intermodal transport projects.

Typically, such projects aim to reduce travel time and cost, eliminate bottlenecks, improve road safety, adapt transport infrastructure to climate change, and deliver socio-economic and environmental benefits.

The support provided by EPIC can cover:

• Strategic orientation, e.g. support for transport sector studies, infrastructure investment programming, as well as project identification and prioritisation.
• Project preparation, including feasibility studies, preliminary designs, environmental assessments, safety audits, etc.
• Methodological guidance, e.g. for the preparation of cost-benefit analyses, environmental and social impact assessments, climate proofing of infrastructure, etc.
• Project implementation through on-the-job advice on selected issues, such as procurement strategies and processes, the preparation of tender documents and the establishment of Project Implementation Units.
• Capacity strengthening and knowledge transfer, developing institutional capacity in the countries concerned through dedicated training events, workshops and thematic working papers.

How can governments apply for support?

The Facility supports projects which are of national priority and included and prioritised under the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan for the Eastern Partnership, the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and the Indicative TEN-T Investment Action Plan for the region.

Calls for applications are published on the EPIC website and shared with the ministries of transport and infrastructure, or equivalent, in the Eastern Neighbourhood countries.

National ministries of transport and infrastructure are responsible for submitting applications, with the assistance of the EPIC Advisory Team, which can help authorities in the process of pre-selecting projects for EPIC support and preparing applications.

Applications should include a description of the investment project, description of the requested support and estimate of cost, analysis of the status of project preparation, and description of the institutional framework for project development.

For more information on EPIC and the application process, consult the detailed guidelines here.

How is EPIC assistance delivered?

Once EPIC has approved an application for support, a full set of Terms of Reference is developed for the Technical Assistance agreement, and relevant consultants are mobilised.

The EPIC Advisory Team supervises the Technical Assistance consultants by reviewing and commenting on outcomes and participating in consultations.

As the projects have a direct positive impact on people’s welfare and living standards, proper communication and visibility are ensured throughout implementation.

What projects are already being implemented?

A number of projects are currently ongoing across the Eastern Partnership countries. These include:

• Studies to develop the Ungheni – Chisinau – Odesa road corridor, part of the extended core TEN-T, crossing the territory of the Republic of Moldova in the east-southwest direction. The corridor connects Romania, Moldova and Ukraine and is a key route for the movement of people and goods.
• Gyumri bypass – update of the feasibility study and detailed design: the Gyumri bypass road section is defined as a high priority investment by the Armenian government, at a key stage in the North-South Road Corridor, one of Armenia’s most strategic transport infrastructure elements and part of the extended TEN-T network.
• Safety improvements at level-crossings along the Baku – Boyuk railway corridor, which is part of the core TEN-T network in Azerbaijan and the key East-West rail connection in the country, linking the capital city and port of Baku with the railway network of Georgia, continuing to the Black Sea.
• Advisory support for the preparation of a single sector project pipeline for transport in Ukraine: drawing from experience with EU funding in the Balkans and in the EU, EPIC supports the Ukrainian authorities in implementing the roadmap for the establishment of a Public Investment Management (PIM) system, focussing on the transport sector.

Other assignments supported by EPIC can be found on the EPIC website.