The Regional Impacts of Trans-European Networks

A key element in the process of European integration is that of Trans-European Networks which will affect the poorer peripheral states of the existing Community, potential new members in East and Central Europe, but also have considerable significance for the congested central regions. There is a recognition of the need for considerable infrastructural investment, which will have considerable implications for both the inter- and intra-regional distribution of economic activity and which address to two central concerns of cohesion and subsidiarity. This paper examines the scope and nature of the transport TENs proposed and analyses the problems posed by these changes and the options for policy within the EC, especially that on the development of the Community's regions. The paper argues that such an approach requires a careful definition of measures of accessibility which relate to both intra- and inter-regional access; to all modes of transport, reflecting a region's economic structure and transport needs; and to levels Of service on infrastructure. It concludes that an increasing emphasis on the Community significance of new transport infrastructure will be needed for both planning and financial reasons, especially given the increasing emphasis on environmental considerations in transport, but that this implies increasing tensions at the regional level which will need to be addressed in the interests of cohesion.