Governance of Transport Corridors in OIC Member States:
Challenges, Cases and Policy Lessons
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corridor coordinator is appointed to each of the nine corridors and the horizontal corridors to facilitate
its development.
“The European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is a single interoperable system to
replace the more than 20 different national train control and command systems currently in operation
throughout Europe. Implementation of the system will deliver enhanced cross-border interoperability,
creating a seamless, Europe-wide railway system”.
“Motorways of the Sea (MoS) is the maritime pillar of the TEN-T. It consists of short-sea routes, ports,
associated maritime infrastructures, equipment, facilities and relevant administrative formalities. MoS
contributes towards the achievement of a European Maritime Transport Space without barriers,
connecting Core Network Corridors by integrating maritime links with hinterland. In doing so, it aims
at providing more efficient, commercially viable and sustainable alternatives to road-only transport”.
Corridor Founders
The Treaty of Maastricht in 1992, in which the first concrete objectives towards developing a common
transport policy in Europe were laid down, was signed by the back then twelve member states of the
EU. New EU members automatically adopted the TEN-T policy. TEN-T is now legally binding for all the
members of the EU, which, as of 2017, are the following 28 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.
Memorandum of Understanding, agreements signed by the countries
The year 1957 witnessed the birth of the European Economic Community with the Treaty of Rome.
The treaty includes a chapter on ‘the adoption of a common policy in the sphere of transport’. In 1985,
the European Parliament sued the European Commission for not doing anything to build towards a
common transport policy, despite promising to do so almost 30 years prior. The European Court ruled
in the favour of the Parliament: advocating that the European Commission needs to take concrete steps
towards the development of a common transport policy. The results was the Treaty of Maastricht in
1992, which contained a detailed chapter on the development of a common transport policy – TEN-T
was born. In the following years, various agreements on specific TEN-T objectives and financing
mechanisms were approved by the member states.
3.1.2 Legal framework
Legal basis
All legal documents underlying TEN-T are binding to the member states and need to be incorporated
in the national transport strategies. No Memorandum of Understanding is signed. In the European
Union, most of the legal instruments were already in place before the establishment of TEN-T. Specific
regulations on TEN-T guidelines were established in 1996, and adjusted in 2004, 2010 and 2013.
Regulations on granting financial aid to TEN-T projects were established in 1995 and updated in 1999
and 2007. The current legal framework for the development of TEN-T are shown i