Think Railways

Council conclusions on the European Court of Auditors
Special Report o 3/2013 “Have the Marco Polo programmes been effective in shifting traffic off the road?”

The Council takes note of the European Court of Auditors Special Report No 3/2013 on “Have the Marco Polo programmes been effective in shifting traffic off the road?” concerning the effectiveness of the Marco Polo programmes financing transport service projects that shift freight transport from road to rail, inland waterways and short sea shipping. The audit covers Marco Polo I and the ongoing Marco Polo II up to July 2012. To carry out the audit, the Court analysed a sample of 16 projects representing 19,5 million euro in commitments and 11,4 million euro in payments. Four of them were short sea shipping projects, one was a rail/inland waterways combination, and the remaining 11 were rail projects.

The Council notes the recommendations formulated by the European Court of Auditors in its Special Report and the Commission’s commitment to take these recommendations into consideration for the remainder of the Marco Polo   It notes the Commission’s thorough and constructive response to the conclusions of the Special Report and notes that part of the measures suggested by the European Court of Auditors has already been taken up by the Commission.

The Council invites the Commission, when taking a decision on a new scheme replacing the Marco Polo programme and considering new actions in the area of freight transport services within the framework of the trans-European transport network, to take the Court’s recommendations into account.

Source*Council of the European Union