More opportunities to raise European funds for the construction, maintenance, modernisation and development of infrastructure, including through co-financing projects such as the Paleochori-Agrou motorway, bring changes agreed at the European Union Transport Council, held in Brussels on Monday, Transport Minister Yannis Karousos explained in a statement on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Karousos welcomed the adoption of the Council's general approach for the revision of the Regulation for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and the fact that Cyprus is now included in two transport corridors and not just one.
He added that Cyprus "is achieving the improvement of its connectivity through two European corridors, with a total length of 17,700 kilometres of roads, 33 ports and 29 airports" through which connectivity with EU member states, partners in the Western Balkans as well as with Ukraine and Moldova is increased.
In particular, Karousos stressed that improvements have been achieved for Cyprus compared to previous arrangements, through the addition of Cyprus to a second corridor, the increase of network kilometres from 5 kilometres.850 km to 17700 km, as well as an increase of ports from 16 to 33 and airports from 15 to 29. Karousosos, "inclusion in two trans-European networks also offers Cyprus better chances of attracting European funds for the construction, maintenance, modernization and development of its infrastructure."
According to a separate announcement on the presence of Mr. The addition of Cyprus to yet another TEN-T corridor was achieved in close cooperation with the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Commission and the Transport Ministers of Greece and Malta.
More specifically, the original proposal of the regulation provided for the participation of Cyprus in a European Corridor, named "Western Balkans-Anne. In addition to Cyprus, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and the countries of the Western Balkans participate in this corridor, which has a length of 5,850 kilometres of road network and includes 15 airports and 16 ports.
As added, Cyprus applied for and succeeded in participating in a second European Corridor, that of the "Baltic-Black Sea-Aegean", which includes Bulgaria, Greece, Estonia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Latvia, Hungary, Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Finland, ensuring interconnection with an additional 11.850 km of road network, 14 airports and 17 ports.
In practice, the inclusion of Cyprus in two trans-European networks offers better opportunities to raise European funds for the construction, maintenance, modernisation and development of infrastructure, for example through the inclusion of the road network inside Cyprus and the new motorway, Paleochori Agros.
According to the statement, during the meeting the Commission also presented its road safety priorities for 2023, with reference to the fact that in 2021 compared to 2020 there was a 6% increase in road traffic fatalities compared to 2020.
Review of actions
In his intervention, Mr. Karousos referred to the positive results of the actions implemented in Cyprus in recent years, which led to a reduction of fatalities by 13.5% in 2021 compared to 2019, while according to the statistics for the period November 2021 - November 2022, a reduction of 16.5% was recorded.
The Minister of Transport also pointed out that according to statistics of the European Transport Safety Council, there is a significant increase in the number of food distributors, which increases the chances of their involvement in road collisions.
For this reason, he added, this sector should be included in the Commission's priorities for 2023, both to improve working conditions and to improve road safety. In this context, Karousos referred to the Cypriot government's proposal that has been forwarded to the House of Representatives to require drivers who use motorcycles for business purposes, such as food deliverers, to wear a motorcycle airbag in addition to a helmet.
Finally, during the discussion following the briefing of the Council by the French Minister of Transport on Enhancing Sustainability and Fairness in Air Transport, Mr. Karousos stressed that maintaining satisfactory levels of air connectivity for island Member States and Member States located on the periphery of the EU was, and remains, a priority for Cyprus.
At the same time, he stressed that Cyprus supports the sustainability of transport and the decarbonisation of the aviation sector by supporting the proposals in the FitFor55 legislative package, stressing however that it must be recognised that air transport is, and will remain, essential to connect island and peripheral Member States such as Cyprus.
As in the case of Cyprus there is no alternative to air transport to connect it to the rest of the world, he highlighted the need for the EU to approach aviation issues with a view to maintaining air connectivity, enhancing competitiveness and safeguarding the economic cohesion of all Member States of the Union.
Source: CNA
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