The grants were announced at the annual conference of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) programme on 21-22 October in Naples, Italy, which took stock of the implementation of the 30 priority projects defined under EU policy.
In total, €500 million of funding was originally intended for transport infrastructure over several years. But the money is now being handed out earlier as "a vital part of the Commission's response to the economic crisis," said EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani.
A second group of projects, worth €240 million, will be announced later this year.
Big money for France, Italy and the UK
Among the 18 projects funded, France will receive some €76 million to advance work on its new high speed railway line, 'TGV Est'.
Italy is granted nearly €64 million for three different projects and the UK €35 million, also for three projects. Sweden and Spain, the current and upcoming EU presidencies, got €28 and €24 million respectively.
The only 'new' member state to be awarded TEN-T money at this stage was Hungary, with €7.5 million for upgrading Budapest airport's operations.
New partnership to improve infrastructure in northern Europe
An agreement on a new initiative called the 'Northern dimension partnership on transport and logistics' was also signed yesterday. Signatories include the European Commission, Norway, Russia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Belarus.
The Swedish EU Presidency said that while northern Europe is rich in natural resources and has a highly developed industrial sector, "the long distances within the region as well as to major markets pose a challenge to the transport sector".
As its first endeavour, the partnership will develop an action plan to identify projects of common interest to improve transnational transport connections.
EU sets eyes on Africa
The 2009 TEN-T conference is also looking at ways to improve transport links with other neighbouring regions, especially Africa.
Following the Commission's communication on connecting Africa and Europe in summer 2009, the Naples conference is putting a strong focus on finding ways to facilitate and improve transport flows between the two continents.
According to the EU executive, the aim is to meet economic and commercial needs, reduce costs and make transport infrastructure more sustainable and reliable.
