The EU and its Member States have been working to implement the so-called TEN-T network. It seeks to create coherent and multimodal infrastructure across the Union. A deadline for the completion of the core network was set for 2030, but the EU’s Court of Auditors now concludes that that is completely out of reach.
The Auditors assessed the progress made on some of Europe’s transport megaprojects, among which are various cross-border railways and multimodal infrastructure. They last evaluated the situation in 2020, when there were already glaring issues with TEN-T implementation.
“The outlook in 2025 is worse than in 2020, and falls far short of what was initially envisaged”, the Court of Auditors writes. The covid pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have led to cost increases in recent years. Compared to original estimates, costs have grown by an average of 82% for the eight examined transport megaprojects. In 2020, the cost increase was 47%.
Rail Baltica and Turin-Lyon
Two projects stand out for spiralling costs: Rail Baltica and the Turin-Lyon railway. They have, respectively, become four times and two times more expensive than was estimated initially. The growing costs could prove to be a problem for the implementing countries, since EU co-funding is “not directly linked to the total cost”. A case in point here is Latvia, which is struggling to find the funds to complete its section of Rail Baltica.
Clearly, money is an obstacle for TEN-T implementation. It is contributing to severe delays and missed deadlines. The EU auditors noted an average delay of 11 years in 2020 for TEN-T projects, but that has now escalated to 17 years.
The EU Auditors highlighted some of the ongoing delays in TEN-T project implementation:
| Project | Initial Plan | Revised Plan | Current Expectation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basque Y railway line | 2010 | 2023 | 2030 (2035 more realistic) |
| Lyon-Turin rail link | 2015 | 2030 | 2033 |
| Brenner Base Tunnel | 2016 | 2028 | 2032 (earliest) |
| Canal Nord Seine Europe | 2010 | 2028 | 2032 |
Completely out of reach
The Court of Auditors is clear in their conclusion. There is no way that the EU will meet the 2030 deadline to complete the core TEN-T network. “EU transport flagship infrastructures are supposed to reshape Europe, bringing people closer together and facilitating economic activity”, said Annemie Turtelboom, the ECA Member who led this update report.
“But three decades after most of them were designed, we are still a long way from cutting the ribbon on these projects, and a long way from achieving the intended improvements in passenger and freight flows across Europe”, Turtelboom added.
The Auditors note that, interestingly, the EU Commission has only once employed its main legal tool to receive explanations for delays. They also expect that the recent TEN-T regulation revision will give the Commission more oversight over the completion of the network, but that the impact on currently ongoing projects will be limited.