The European Commission has selected 107 transport infrastructure projects for more than €6 billion in EU grants to co-finance interconnection in Europe. This will grant €506.4 million to the Seine-Scheldt waterway link.
The linking of the Seine and Scheldt basins, and then the Rhine and Meuse, should create a network of 1,100 km of large-gauge inland waterways, an essential project for the major North Sea-Mediterranean corridor. The grants announced on Thursday should enable the Seine-Nord Europe Canal (Hauts-de-France) and new sections of inland waterway in Belgium to be completed by 2030.
As of last year, the Commission had already allocated €276 million to the Seine-Scheldt project, following initial contributions of €176 million and €539 million between 2007 and 2020.
A canal boat mooring near the "Pont des Trous" in Tournai in Belgium. Belga archives
Belgium is also receiving funding for other multinational projects, notably in air safety. Eurocontrol, the European organisation for the safety of air navigation, is based in Haren (Brussels) and will receive a grant of €71 million to modernise its European network.
Of the €6 billion large infrastructure investments the Commission is committing to, the Brenner rail tunnel that will link Italy and Austria will receive €700,000 and Rail Baltica (linking the three Baltic States and Poland to the rest of Europe) will receive €605,000.
€250 million will be spent to improve cross-border links between Ukraine, Moldova and their EU neighbours Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. “These projects will facilitate the transport of goods between the EU and Ukraine, thereby strengthening the channels of solidarity,” the European Commission stresses.
