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transport (DG TREN) in fact has limited power to straightforwardly implement its own
transport sector objectives and policies in the candidate countries both because of the
EU’s multi-level governance structure and the importance of additional stakeholders. 5
Meanwhile, previous propositions about “Dominant Discourses” and “Conflicting
Storylines” in EU decision-making also remain relevant for Part III of study, albeit
sometimes with slightly different twists.
7.2 EU Plans and Programs for CEE Transport Infrastructures: Overview
Table 7.1 provides a general overview of the four key initiatives relevant for our
analysis of EU transport-sector infrastructure investments in the CEE candidate countries.
Note that the Helsinki Corridors and the TINA network discussed in this chapter form
part of the so-called “Pan-European Transport Network.” In all, this network consists of
the following components (also see Commission of the European Communities and
Vienna 2000d):
?? The Trans-European Transport Network on the territory of the European Union
(TEN);
?? The ten Pan-European Transport Corridors situated in the acceding countries, in the
NIS and beyond;
?? The TINA network, which is composed of the ten Corridors and the additional
network components within the candidate countries for accession;
?? Four Pan-European Transport Areas (PETrAs) covering Maritime areas;
?? Euro-Asian Links, notably TRACEA (Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia).
The TENs have been discussed in previous sections of this study. Due to
necessary limits in the scope of the present study, neither the PETrAs nor any Euro-Asian
5 The two propositions are quite compatible. Also note that contrary to common misperceptions,
interpreting the EU as a system of multi-level governance does not mean that national leadership and
decision-power necessarily succumb to a diffuse or even unstable hierarchy of influences. As Marks et al.
(1996) note: “The multi-level government model does not reject the view that state executives and state
arenas are important, or that these remain the most important pieces of the European puzzle” (emphasis in
the original).