strategy action plan for 2008-2009 eng

7/27/2019 Strategy Action Plan for 2008-2009 Eng

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CONTENTS

Introduction ______________________________________________________ 3

General Principles_________________________________________________ 4

Structure of this Action Plan ________________________________________ 5Overcoming the Headache of Funding ________________________________ 6

Safe, Secure and Sustainable Transport _______________________________ 6

Institutional Dimension ____________________________________________ 7

Integration and Cohesion of Infrastructure _____________________________ 7

Sound Multi-Modal Freight Transport _________________________________ 8

Full Potential of Air Transport _______________________________________ 8

Implementation and Monitoring ______________________________________ 9

Appendix: Summary of Actions _____________________________________ 10

Glossary _______________________________________________________ 12


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INTRODUCTION

The technical assistance programme for the development of the transport corridor between

Europe and Asia across the Black Sea, the countries of the South Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and

the Central Asian countries the TRACECA programme was launched in May 1993 with the aim

of strengthening economic relations, trade and transport communication along the Corridor

regions. The legal basis for the TRACECA programme as a multilateral framework of cooperation

was established in September 1998, at the Summit of the Heads of the governments in Bakuwhere the Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport for Development of the

Europe-Caucasus-Asia Corridor (MLA), was signed. The twelve signatory states of this Basic

Multilateral Agreement are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,

Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and the Ukraine. In the meantime, two of the

twelve MLA signatory countries are EU Member States (Bulgaria and Romania) while Turkey has

accession country status.

In 2000, an Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) was established to oversee the

implementation of the programme. The Commissions executive body, the Permanent Secretariat

(PS), created in 2001, has its headquarters in Baku and is since 2006 funded directly through

contributions of the TRACECA member countries.

In 2004 the Baku Initiative on Transport was launched involving all 1998 TRACECA MLA

signatory states as well as Belarus. One of the first activities of this initiative was to set up four

expert working groups to work out recommendations on transport development in the fields of land

transport (road / rail), aviation, security, and infrastructure. These recommendations were

presented at the Second Baku Initiative Ministerial Conference and Fifth Annual Meeting of the

IGC TRACECA in May 2006 which, in turn, approved the TRACECA long-term strategy till 2015.

To date, TRACECA has financed 62 technical assistance projects worth 105 million and 14

investment projects worth 52 million. The money for TRACECA has till now come entirely from the

EU budget (in the framework of the TACIS budget line). Its impact has been manifold: the EU

commitment to the region has enabled larger investments by international financing institutions

such as the EBRD and the World Bank. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

has made commitments for capital projects on ports, railways and roads along the TRACECA routeamounting to 700 million EURO; the World Banks share amounts to 40 million USD.

The TRACECA programme is currently at the crossroads. As recognized at the Baku

Ministerial Conference and laid down in the TRACECA Strategy paper the further development of

the TRACECA corridor region economically, politically as well as with regard to infrastructure

investment necessitates the acceleration of regulatory reforms in the transport sector and the

consolidation at the institutional level of changes effected at the level of specific organizations

through the largely successful training and technical assistance projects implemented over the past

fifteen years. This is also the approach favoured by the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)

launched in 2002 that currently guides the bilateral relations between the European Union and its

neighbouring countries in the South and East.

In recognition of this, the Permanent Representatives of the IGC TRACECA to the latters

Permanent Secretariat agreed in April 2007 to set out the activities to be implemented by the

TRACECA member countries in the short- and medium-term towards the fulfilment of the

TRACECA Strategy goals in a series of action plans. The present document represents the first

action plan of this type and covers the period 2007-2009. Subsequent action plans will cover the

periods 2010-2012 and 2013-2015.

The Action Plan for 2007-2009 was elaborated by the Permanent Secretariat of the

Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA with technical assistance provided by the European

Commission :


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In compliance with the Strategy of IGC TRACECA for development of international transport

corridor Europe-the Caucasus-Asia for the period up to 2015 (hereinafter referred to as the

Strategy);

In pursuance of the Resolutions of the V Annual Meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission

TRACECA (2006, Sofia, the Republic of Bulgaria);

In accordance with the Concept for designing Action Plans with reference to the Strategy

(hereinafter referred to as the Concept, Appendix1);

Based on the analysis of the existing and future problems in the field of transport in theTRACECA region;

Taking into consideration the issues included in the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the

TRACECA projects to be implemented during 2007-2009;

According to the proposals of the MLA Parties, as well as the bilateral action plans of the

European Commission and the TRACECA member states in the area of trade and transport

facilitation;

Taking into account the recommendations of the European Commission and the priorities of

the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

The Permanent Secretariat will be in charge of monitoring and evaluating the

implementation of the proposed actions. The tasks of this Action Plan will be carried out by the

MLA Parties with the technical support provided in the framework of the TRACECA projectsfinanced by the European Commission. In 2009, upon completion of the present Action Plan, a

new one to cover the period 2010 to 2012 will be adopted.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

The present Action Plan is based on the provisions of the strategy elaborated for the

TRACECA corridor region for the period up to 2015. The latters overall goal is to help deliver a

sustainable, efficient and integrated multi-modal transport system between the EU and the

TRACECA region but also among the TRACECA countries. The TRACECA strategy builds around

a number of pillars classified into short-, medium- and long-term. For each of these pillars, a set of

objectives are outlined. Table 1 summarizes the structure and contents of the Strategy.

Table 1. Pillars and Aims of TRACECA Strategy (up to 2015)

Pillar Objectives Chapter

Short-term

(1) Overcoming the headacheof funding

Developing national funding plans 8.1

Mobilizing regional and international sourcesof funding

8.2

Promoting public private partnerships 8.3

(2) Safe, secure and

sustainable transport

Safer ships on a cleaner sea 7.1

Sustainable air transport 7.2

Sustainable land transport 7.3

Sustainability culture in infrastructuredevelopment

7.4

Usage of Galileo programme 7.5

(3) Institutional Dimensions Organizational restructuring 3.1

Reinforcement of human resources 3.2

Medium-term

(4) Infrastructure (integration /cohesion)

Principles for developing regional networks 4.1


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Planning methodology & traffic forecasts 4.2 &4.3

Establishment key transport projects 4.4

Continual refinement of network 4.5

(5) Sound multi-modal chains Port modernization 5.1

Motorways of Sea 5.2

Modernized road freight transport industry 5.3

Putting railway system in perspective 5.4

Border crossings 5.5Integrated multimodal transport plans 5.6

Long-term

(6) Full potential of airtransport

Cooperation on air traffic control 6.2

Optimising exploitation of airports 6.3

Source: TRACECA Strategy

The progress from proposals to actions (chapter 2.3, p.8) is expected to bring about the

realignment of the transport legislations in the TRACECA countries towards international transport

conventions and agreements, and thus closer to EU transport legislation. This realignment is oneof the key principles of the TRACECA strategy, especially in the short-term, and that which will

determine the further development of the region towards transport integration. Actions represent

specific activities to be implemented by the TRACECA countries in order to meet the objectives of

the Strategy. The parallel and coordinated implementation of these actions in the different

countries will contribute to their effectiveness and impact from the regional perspective.

According to the TRACECA Strategy, in the short-term, priority should be given to actions

under the remit of the first three pillars. This is also the approach adopted by the present Action

Plan. However, this does not mean that no actions are proposed for the medium- and long-term

pillars. Pillars 4 to 6 have a longer time perspective because they are more complex. Therefore, it

is important to begin now already with preparatory work. This is the logic for actions proposed for

pillars 4 to 6 in this Action Plan. Subsequent action plans will focus more thoroughly on pillars 4, 5and 6.

STRUCTURE OF THIS ACTION PLAN

The six sections that follow correspond to the six pillars of the Strategy. For each of these

pillars, the actions for the period 2007-2009 are specified. The last section spells out the

procedures for the monitoring and evaluation of the plan.

The summary table in Appendix 2 lists the actions proposed and indicates for each one the

technical assistance (TA) project to which it relates. It is important in this connection to underline

that the TA projects are not equivalent to the actions of this plan, nor should work undertaken to

support the implementation of these projects be understood as substituting activities for the

implementation of the present Action Plan.

The TRACECA TA projects will support, where relevant and possible, activities undertaken

by the partner countries for implementation of this Action Plan. Such activities are, however, likely

to go far beyond the project activities given that they primarily relate to the realignment of

legislation as requested by the Strategy. This realignment is only possible at the state level and

beyond the scope of any project activity.


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OVERCOMING THE HEADACHE OF FUNDING

Transport infrastructure is investment-intensive and as such always a headache. In the

TRACECA corridor countries the problem is compounded by the absence of reliable investment

plans at the national level. Private investors as well as international financing institutions will

engage in the region only if they can count on the existence of a stable legal and regulatory

framework and, at the same time, firm state commitments to also invest in transport infrastructure.

Therefore, in order to mobilize regional and international sources of funding and promote

public-private partnerships as recommended in the Strategy, the priority in the period 2007-2009

has to be the elaboration of transport infrastructure master plans outlining the national strategy

with regard to infrastructure investment, and the expected state engagement in this regard over a

period of at least five years. (Action 1)

These master plans ought to build on an adequate methodology for infrastructure planning

as recommended under pillar 4 (see table 1). Such a methodology comprises three steps:

First, the identification of bottlenecks. Bottlenecks may be capacity and infrastructure-related

or linked to border crossings, the lack of interoperability or environmental conditions. The

impact of these bottlenecks for the transport system should be assessed with reference to

actual and future traffic flows.

Second, the identification of projects and the estimation of their costs;

Third, the prioritization of these projects based on their cost-benefit appraisal and theirrelevance for the national and international transport networks.

Action 1 is directly relevant for the first objective of this pillar (see table 1), namely the

development of national funding plans. It will, however, also go a long way towards fulfilling the

second and third objectives which call for a mobilization of external and private funding for

transport infrastructure respectively. The existence of these plans will greatly facilitate the liaison

with possible future funding agencies or investors, already supported by the European Commission

through a set of TA projects.

SAFE,SECURE AND SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT

In order to promote safe, secure and sustainable transport in the region, it is important tofirst align legislation and regulations regarding maritime, air and land to those of international

conventions.Maritime safety, especially, is of crucial importance for the safe transportation of oil

from Central Asia to Europe via the Caspian and Black Sea. This is expected to substantially

increased as of 2010.

With regard to maritime transport:

Priority should be given to the full implementation of safety and security requirements

deriving from ILO/IMO regulations. The ISPS security regulation should be implemented

efficiently both at the Flag State and Ports levels (Action 2). The ILO/IMO code of practice from

2004 relates to security in ports and complements the ISPS code which applies to the wider port

area. Both sets of regulation have as overall aim to render ports safe and secure by implementingcontrol procedures at different levels within the ports and with respect to ships. These procedures

are described in detail in the respective codes of practice.

Furthermore, it is important to secure the safe transport of oil via the Caspian Sea. Doing

this might necessitate the establishment of a specific framework and related mechanisms,

including appropriate Port State controls, vessel traffic monitoring as well as an enhanced

coordination mechanism among civil administrations for marine pollution. TRACECA partner

countries are therefore invited to consider this in consultation with the European Union.


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With regard to air transport

The sustainability of the air transport sector requires that TRACECA countries introduce the

same rules in their transport legislation as those foreseen in international and European

regulations governing civil aviation (i.e. regulations of ICAO, EC/EASA and JAA). The adoption

of such standards will enable the partner countries to perform their civil aviation regulatory and

safety oversight functions in compliance with European and/or international standards. This

presupposes the reinforcement of the administrative capacity of aviation authorities. (Action 3).

With regard to road transport

It is important that TRACECA countries align their regulations on road transport to

European / international standards. This especially applies to those standards with implications for

transport safety, namely, the control of driving times and rest periods, for instance through the

implementation of the digital tachograph, and the application of more stringent rules for issuing and

controlling driving licences. In this connection, the TIR and AETR Conventions ought to be

acceded to and/or fully implemented. Equally, it is important to improve the professionalism of

operators (by introducing a licensing system) as well as the technical state of the vehicle fleet (by

introducing road worthiness tests and complementary measures supporting the upgrading of the

vehicle fleets). (Action 4).

INSTITUTIONAL DIMENSION

A number of the TRACECA technical assistance projects implemented since 1993 have

sought to introduce standard procedures into the running of transport administrations and the

elaboration of transport policy. The TRACECA countries are currently well equipped to proceed

with the consolidation of these reforms at the level of administration and at the level of transport

policy planning. In the latter respect, priority must be given to:

The alignment of national transport policy plans to the TRACECA Strategy with regard

toinstitutional and regulatory reforms. These national policy plans will complement the national

infrastructure master plans (see action 1 above) and set the context for transport development and

integration. More specifically these plans should spell out the time plan for regulatory reform in the

road, railway, maritime and air sectors including for the accession to and implementation ofinternational conventions; as well as the time and organizational plan for the establishment of

market rules for competition and the decentralization of management across different modes of

transport. (Action 5)

INTEGRATION AND COHESION OF INFRASTRUCTURE

The development of a cohesive and integrated transport infrastructure network plan for the

TRACECA region is a medium-term goal that is expected to take at least until 2012 to complete.

As is recognized in the Strategy (see table 1), in order to specify the network it is first

necessary to elaborate a planning methodology including traffic forecasts (see action 1). Only

once these steps have been completed will it be possible to elaborate a regional transport networkplan for the whole TRACECA region. On this basis, it will be possible to identify priority projects for

submission to feasibility studies in preparation of funding and implementation.

In the short-term till 2009, the priority for TRACECA countries under this pillar must

therefore be the collection of transport data and compilation of transport statistics towards

the set up of a standardized transport database and the preparation of comparable traffic

forecasts in view of the identification of priority projects for submission to feasibility studies.

(Action 6).


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SOUND MULTI-MODAL FREIGHT TRANSPORT

The development of sound multi-modal chains in the TRACECA region requires actions in

different areas and, more specifically, with respect to maritime transport and the motorways of the

sea, road transport and railways. Complementary actions are also called for with regard to border-

crossings and logistic platforms. This set of actions are also medium-term and expected to be

completed not earlier than 2012. In the short-term, i.e. by 2009, priority ought to be given to the

following actions:

With regard to road transport

The modernization of the road haulage industry by improving the professionalism of road

operators and upgrading the state of the fleets (see action 4).

With regard to maritime transport

The modernization of the ports : beginning with the identification in national transport policy

plans (see action 5) and national infrastructure master plans (see action 1) of those ports most

suitable for development into hubs and integration into potential motorways of the sea. With regard

to the ports, the plans should describe their present structure, organization and capacity, as well as

future investment needs.

With regard to railways

The modernization of railways : beginning with specifying the time plan for the

implementation of management and ownership reforms in railway in the national transport policy

plans (see action 5); this plan should be based on a thorough assessment of the state of the

national railways.

With regard to border-crossings:

Joining the UNECE Conventions regarding border-crossing procedures and the

Convention on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) and

encouraging the implementation of the international Single Administrative Document (SAD)

towards the simplification of customs procedures and documentation (Action 7).

With regard to logistic centres:

TRACECA Partner countries are invited to review the situation in their countries against the

background of the recommendations of the recently completed study on logistic centres.

Recommendations for the future development of logistic centres should be integrated in the

national transport policy plans (see action 5) and infrastructure master plans (see action 1).

With regard to multi-modal transport plans:

One of the proposals of the Strategy is to develop multi-modal transport plans for the whole

TRACECA region. To this end the Permanent Secretariat of TRACECA is recommending the

adoption of a framework multi-lateral agreement on the development of multimodal transport. The

adoption of this agreement will facilitate the mutual recognition of operators engaged in

international transport operations across the TRACECA borders subject to the fulfillment of safety

and liability standards. (Action 8).

FULL POTENTIAL OF AIR TRANSPORT

For air transport to be boosted and meet its full potential in the TRACECA corridor region

several steps and actions are needed. This is by far the most ambitious objective of the TRACECA


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Strategy and, for this reason, long-term in orientation. In the short-term, priority shall be given to

the strengthened aviation cooperation and gradual extension of the Common Aviation Area

between the EU and neighbouring countries and countries of Central Asia, as appropriate. A

possibility in this respect is the solution of the issue of Community designation in order to provide

legal certainty for bilateral air services agreements between the EU and TRACECA countries

(Action 9).

Another priority is the gradual alignment of TRACECA and EU legislation, especially as

regards air safety and security (see action 3) and the coordination of traffic control.

Further to this, and in a way similar to that proposed for ports, the national transport policy

plans (see action 5) should include detailed assessments of the main airports in each country

towards identification of those most suitable for further investments.

IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING

The actions foreseen by this plan are to be implemented by the state transport

administrations of the TRACECA partner countries. The Permanent Representatives to the Inter-

Governmental Commission will act as national coordinators and be in charge of liaising with their

public administrations in relevant ministries. They will also have to report back to the IGC at

coordination meetings to be organized by the Permanent Secretariat in 2008 and 2009.

Based on the reporting of the permanent representatives, the PS will compile an annual

progress report to the IGC and the European Commission. This will compare the progress made in

different countries and recommend modifications where necessary. The next Action Plan to cover

the years 2010 to 2012 will be prepared in the course of 2008 and adopted at the end of 2009. It

will be based on the findings and recommendations of the two progress reports of 2008 and 2009.

Technical assistance needed for the implementation of the actions of this plan by the

TRACECA countries will be provided through the Permanent Secretariat or in the framework of the

ongoing TRACECA projects as relevant and to the extent possible. To this end, the present Action

Plan recommends the upgrading of the institutional capacity and technical expertise of the

Permanent Secretariat through additional qualified human resources (Action 10).


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APPENDIX:SUMMARY OF ACTIONS

No. Action Short description Strategy reference Related TA project*

1 Elaborate five-yearinfrastructure masterplans

To elaborate a national investmentstrategy regarding transport based on anadequate methodology for infrastructureplanning and prioritization based on theidentification of bottlenecks and the use

of traffic forecasts

Pillar (1), chapters 8.1 to8.3Pillar (4), chapters 4.1 to4.4Pillar (2), chapter 7.4

Pillar (5),chapters 5.1, 5.2,5.4

TA Development of national transportpoliciesTA Analysis and forecasting of traffic flowsfor the TRACECA countries TA International Logistics Centre

TA Regional Transport Dialogue andNetworks InteroperabilityTA Motorways of the Sea, Black Sea /Caspian SeaTA Improvement of maritime links betweenTRACECA and TEN corridors

2 Improve maritime safety Full implementation of safety / securityrequirements deriving from IMO/ILO andISPSImprovement of port state controls andestablishment of vessel traffic monitoringsystemsCoordination of civil mechanisms in caseof marine pollution

Pillar (2), chapter 7.1 TA Common security management systemand cooperation in the area of maritimesafetyTA International transport safety and security

3 Improve civil aviationsafety

Introduce regulations of ICAO, EC/EASAand JAA and reinforce the administrativecapacity of aviation authorities

Pillar (2), chapter 7.2 TA Training civil aviation administration andpersonnelTA International transport safety and security

4 Improve road transportsafety

Align regulations on road transport toEuropean / international standards (TIR,

AETR, professionalism of operators,upgrading of fleet)

Pillar (2), chapter 7.3Pillar (5), chapter 5.3 TA International transport safety and

securityTA Strengthening transport trainingcapacities

5 Align national transportpolicy plans to Strategy

To specify a detailed time and action planfor regulatory reform in the road, railway,maritime and air sectors consistent withthe TRACECA Strategy

Pillar (3), chapter 3.1Pillar (5), chapters 5.1 5.2,5.4Pillar (6), chapter 6.3

TA Development of national transportpolicies

6 Transport database Collect transport data and compilestatistics to input into a standardized

Pillar (4), chapters 4.1 to4.4

TA Analysis and forecasting of traffic flows


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transport database to prepare trafficforecasts and, on this basis, identifypriority projects for submission tofeasibility studies.

TA Regional Transport Dialogue andNetworks Interoperability

7 Improve border-crossing procedures

Join UNECE, ADR Conventions andadopt SAD

Pillar (5), chapter 5.5 TA International transport safety and security

8 Multilateral frameworkon multi-modaltransport

Adopt IGC TRACECA framework onmulti-modal transport as appendix to MLA

Pillar (5), chapter 5.6

9 Extension of CommonAviation Area

Gradually creating stable legal basis forEU-TRACECA aviation relations throughbilateral or horizontal aviationagreements, as appropriate.

Pillar (6), chapter 6.2 TA International transport safety and security

10 Upgrade technicalexpertise of PS

Upgrade technical expertise and capacityof Permanent Secretariat to allow theprovision of additional TA to PartnerCountries

* Only the new TRACECA TA projects are listed. Other still ongoing TA projects from previous programme periods should also be used where relevanThe same applies to technical assistance projects funded by other budget lines, for instance TAIEX, TACIS or the ENP.


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GLOSSARY

ADR Convention on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods byRoad

AETR European Agreement concerning the Work of Crews of VehiclesEngaged in International Road Transport

EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

ENP European Neighbourhood Policy

EASA European Aviation Safety Authority

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

ICAO International Civil Aviation OrganizationIGC Inter-Governmental Commission

ILO International Labour Organization

IMO International Maritime Organization

ISPS International Ship and Port Facility Security CodeJAA Joint Aviation Authorities

MLA Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport PS Permanent Secretariat

SAD Single Administrative Document

TACIS Technical Aid to the Commonwealth of Independent States

TIR Convention on the International Transport of Goods

UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

strategy action plan for 2008-2009 eng

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