Plans to build a multi-billion euro ‘West Link’ freight corridor were presented to Tajani last week with the unprecedented backing of eight French regions, in a move which they hope will help raise the project’s profile with the French government.
Together, the eight regions claim to represent more than 40% of the French population and 50% of the country’s GDP. The group includes the following regions: Basse-Normandie, Haute-Normandie, Picardie, Champagne-Ardenne, Ile-de-France, Bourgogne, Centre and Pays de la Loire.
"The freight link is a system to circumvent the centre of the capital with a very strong possibility for road-rail links," explained Jean-Paul Huchon, president of the Île-de-France region, speaking to EurActiv in an interview.
"It is obviously an issue of sustainable development," he added, explaining that the objective was to repeat and even amplify the success of the Seine-Nord Europe canal, which he said had managed to get two million trucks off Parisian roads.
"The bypassing of Paris is obviously an issue of European dimension because we are a bit at the centre of exchanges," he said, expressing hope that the European Commission would support it.
The Paris basin has been largely ignored in the 30 priority projects identified under the Trans-European Networks for Transport (TEN-T) policy, the regions claim. With a mid-term review expected in 2010 and a full-scale budgetary revision due for 2013, they are hoping to raise their profile and channel more EU money in the next period.
Seeking Sarkozy's backing
However, despite claims that the project has a European and national dimension, it has not yet received the official backing of the French state, which has an important say at European level in defining priority transport projects that are financed by the EU.
For Huchon, the very fact that the Commission may declare the project of European interest would be sufficient to "trigger the interest of the [French] state" and "magnify the contribution of local authorities".
This difficulty of the eight French regions’ quest is testimony to the centralised culture which continues to permeate in France, despite the ‘decentralisation’ laws of the 1980s, which gave greater responsibilities and funding capacity to local authorities.
In addition, political rivalries are never far from the surface when talking about major transport infrastructure projects. The eight regions are all governed by socialists opposed to Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right government.
But the regional leaders are quick to underline that they are not at odds with the government on the issue. "We are not trying to bypass the state," insisted Claude Gewerc, president of the Picardie regional council, saying the project fits perfectly with France’s environmental objectives.
One local representative who preferred not to be named told EurActiv that the regions had failed to get access to Jean-Louis Borloo, the minister in charge of transport and sustainable development, to present their project.
"Nowadays in France, there is a hyper-centralisation of power around one individual [President Nicolas Sarkozy]," the local representative said, explaining their failure to get support from the government.
"Our aim in establishing a direct dialogue with the European Commission does not mean that we want to do things on the back of the French government," the source added, saying there are also conflicts between the various layers of government and between different constituencies.
The issue, according to the regions, is one of governance, because the project requires complex decision-making at national and local level.
"We have a freight policy that we are currently not responsible for in the framework of our regional competences," said Huchon. "And in Île-de-France, we want to be responsible not only for passenger transport, but also for freight transport."
