Road transport services account for 1.6 % of EU GDP and represent 4.5 million jobs in the EU. The whole economy and society depends heavily on efficient road transport; 44 % of the goods are moved by lorries and 85 % of personal travel is by car or bus.

The Community policy objectives for road transport are to promote efficient road freight and passengers transport services, to create fair conditions for competition, to promote safer and more environmental friendly technical standards and fiscal and social harmonization; and to make sure that the rules in road transport are effectively applied without discrimination.

JASPERS support in this sector is focussed on the enlargement of the TEN-T network and primary roads as well as intermodal centres.

The picture below shows the TEN-T network outline plan on 2020 horizon.

Scope of work

The scope of JASPERS work can encompass support to the final beneficiaries throughout the preparation of the project for grant application or concern specific assignments only. Experience has shown that it is of advantage to involve JASPERS as early as possible (i.e. first review or screening).

• Project Screening: Assist stakeholders with project screening to assess their viability and suitability for EU-grant finance;
• Project development: Support stakeholders from project pre-feasibility and feasibility stages, including option analysis through to final grant application;
• Project appraisal: Undertake final assessment of projects and relevant documents prior to submission of the grant application to DG-REGIO;
• Horizontal Support: Provide guidance on horizontal issues including State Aid, CBA and funding gap methodology as well as on EIA;
• Training and capacity development: Provide workshops on key project and horizontal issues for project stakeholders, active participation at conferences organised by Ministries of beneficiary countries.

Some practical examples: JASPERS is helping to define the scope of feasibility studies, reviews feasibility studies and environmental documents to ensure the adequate justification of the project and compliance with the EU environmental requirements. Further JASPERS advises on how to calculate the funding gap and assists to prepare the application form.

Number of JASPERS assignments in the roads sector

Between 1 January and 31 December 2009, 24 projects have been completed in the roads sector, compared with seven in 2008. The sharp increase was made possible by the preparatory work carried out in the previous years, including horizontal actions to facilitate project development. DG REGIO approved seven JASPERS-assisted applications out of a total 20 submitted in 2009. Around 100 assignments, with a total investment cost of some EUR 22bn, were supported by JASPERS in the road division in 2009. The distribution of active projects per country was relatively stable, with Poland taking the highest share (28%), followed by the Czech Republic (18%), Romania (17%), Slovakia (12%) and Bulgaria (9%). The highest number of completion has been recorded in Poland and in Romania (5 each).

Selected Highlights

• Bulgaria: Trakia, Maritza motorways
• Czech republic: major road schemes
• Estonia: Tallin Ulemiste road junction
• Hungary: provincial urban transport, trunk road n° 4
• Latvia: Riga Northern Corridor 1st stage (Brivibas St)
• Lithuania: Via Baltica and Vilnius southern bypass
• Malta: Improvement of TEN-T Road Network
• Poland: motorways and expressways
• Romania: motorways and TEN-T schemes
• Slovakia: motorway and expressway schemes
• Slovenia: motorway A2
• Horizontal actions: CBA methodology, management of project cost increases of road projects