On 26 October 2018, the European Commission adopted an Implementing Decision on the Rail Baltica cross-border project on the North Sea Baltic Core Network Corridor, within the Trans-European Networks – Transport(TEN-T) programme. The Rail Baltica project provides a European standard gauge railway connection between Tallin (Estonia) and Warszawa (Poland), connecting also Riga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania). It is the most relevant project of the North Sea Baltic Core Network Corridor that connects the main Baltics ports to Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

The Decision provides for a description of the actions and the implementation timetable for the project, as well as related governance provisions. The Commission has estimated that about 5,6 billion euro are needed for the full implementation of the project, whereas almost 1,9 billion euro of the available European funding has been used. The identification of the actions necessary to complete the Rail Baltica project is important in order to plan and fully optimise the related availability of Union, national and regional funding, as well as other relevant types of support.

The first deadline provided is 31 December 2018. By that date, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have to complete the consolidated preliminary technical design, the strategic environmental assessments and the study on infrastructure management.

With regard to the governance, the Decision states that the progress of the actions should be discussed at least twice a year between the representatives of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland at the intergovernmental Rail Baltica Task Force, with participation of the European Coordinator for the North Sea-Baltic Core Network Corridor and representatives of the Commission. The European Coordinator for the North Sea-Baltic Core Network Corridor and representatives of the Commission and nominated representatives of Poland and Finland are also invited to participate as observers in the meetings of the Supervisory Board of the joint venture RB Rail AS, the main coordinator of the project.

Moreover, once a year the Commission and the European Coordinator for the North Sea-Baltic Core Network Corridor will receive a report on the progress in implementing the actions laid down in the Decision.

The Rail Baltica project should be fully operational by 2030 at the latest.

Sara Capruzzi