PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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within the frame of the Pan-European Transport Corridors systems established on the
Crete conference (1994) and Helsinki conference (1997). Four Pan-European
corridors crossing Poland and the projects located in these Corridors will be the
investment priorities in the years 2000-2006 and in the later period. … Moreover, in
the context of ISPA funds and IFI loans participation in the financing of the
infrastructure projects, the important investments (from the point of view of the
development of the country’s transport system) could be placed in the rest of the
components of TINA network and would supplement, in the necessary scope, the
framework created by the corridors.
Of particular interest here is the mention of the national perspective, hinting at
dissonances between European and national level priorities. Before presenting the list of
priority projects, the document then also has an additional section on “sources of
financing: aims, principles and assumptions.” Here, the Polish government assures the
EU that they will apply “principles of sound management” and quote a series elements
from their national document “Strategy for public finance and economical development,
Poland 2000-2010. 23
In the end, weighing the suitability of ISPA grant funding for
possible projects against sources from the state budget, from local authority budgets,
private sector contributions, IFI and other bilateral loans, and Phare grants (for regional
infrastructure), the Polish ISPA document presents a list of projects which would, if
executed, exceed the foreseen Polish ISPA allocation for the 2000-2006 period.
Originally, Polish officials were interested in presenting an even wider selection of
projects to DG Regio in Brussels. However, they were strongly encouraged by the
responsible DG Regio officer to concentrate on select TEN corridors, and more precisely
on Helsinki Corridors II and III. These are the same stretches of motorways and railways
23 This document, among other things, assumes that “state budget expenditures for transport infrastructure
will increase from PLN 5.7 billion in 2000 to PLN 11.6 in 2006, i.e. from 0.8% of GDP in 2000 to 1.0% of
GDP in 2006” (Republic of Poland 2000:15). Using 2002 exchange rates, this amounts to € 1.5 in 2000 and
€ 3 in 2006. By comparison, TINA assumed average annual expenditures of € 1.3 from 2000 to 2015 just
for Helsinki corridor expenditure in the road and rail sectors, as well as an additional € 0.8 for additional
TINA lines and infrastructure nodes.