The SEETAC Project (South-East European Transport Axis Cooperation) was successfully presented at the European Parliament in Brussels for the second time on 28 June, 2011.
The meeting co-organised by the Central European Initiative (CEI) and hosted by Hon. Antonio Cancian (Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament) was an opportunity for the CEI - Lead Partner of the SEETAC project - to discuss a possible extension of the EU Core Network to the Western Balkans and to highlight the technical inputs of the SEETAC project in this complex process.
Mr. Cancian who opened the meeting, underlined how the extension of the EU Core Network to the Western Balkans could represent an important aspect of the current Ten-T revision process. “Only by focusing on concrete projects and programmes through coordination and sharing of the mutually-beneficial strategies, regional integration can increase in a European perspective” he said. In this context, the SEETAC project and the Central European Initiative could be considered as facilitators between the EU and non-EU Member States.
The European Commission regards the Western Balkans as a strategic transit way for reaching the Black Sea and Turkey. It therefore fully supports the idea to include the WB countries - which will sooner or later become EU members - in the core network planning. The main objective is to establish a European Core Network, by creating a synergy between the “Western Balkan Core Network” and the EU Core Network.
CEI Project Manager, Mr. Carlo Fortuna, wrapped up the outcomes so far achieved by the project: the data base collection and the modeling exercises, and concluded by expressing the CEI’s willingness to continue the fruitful cooperation with the European Commission, as well as with the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament. For more information: www.seetac.eu