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WHAT IS MARCO POLO?
Marco Polo Programme intends to support commercial
actions in the market for freight transport services. It
is therefore different from the support given through
research and development programmes and the
Trans-European Network programme. Marco Polo will
develop modal shift projects in all segments of the
freight market, not only in combined transport. The
Programme is able to fund actions involving all EU
countries, including new members and candidates to
accession to the European Union.
The Marco Polo Programme is formally the successor of
the PACT Programme (Pilot Actions for Combined
Transport).
OBJECTIVES
The Programme's objective is to contribute to an
efficient and sustainable development by reducing road
congestion, developing intermodality and improving the
environmental performance of the freight transport
system within the Community. To achieve this objective,
the Programme supports actions in the freight transport,
logistics and other relevant markets. These actions, by
combining different modes of transport should help to
shift the expected aggregate increase in international
road freight traffic of 12 billion tonokilometers per
year.
The main objective of Marco Polo is to help shifting an
amount of growing international road haulage, to other
modes.
TYPES OF ACTIONS
1. “modal shift actions” - Start-up support
for new non-road freight transport services, which
should be viable in the mid-term
- robust but not innovative - just shift freight
off road
- subsidy of 1 € per 500 tkm shifted
- subsidy rate up to 30% - minimum subsidy
threshold 0.5 Mio€=> at least 250 million tkm
shifted per contract
- duration up to 3 years
- no undue distortions of competition
2. “catalyst actions” - support for
implementing freight services or facilities of strategic
European interest
- overcome structural market barriers
- highly innovative: - causing a real break
through
- duration up to 4 years
- Subsidy rate up to 35%
- minimum subsidy threshold 1.5 Mio€
- ancillary infrastructure up to 20% of subsidy
- dissemination of results
- no undue distortions of competition
Examples of actions:
- Motorways of the sea
- International non-stop railway services
- High speed freight trains on international
routes
- High quality well intergrated inland waterway
services
- Improving the inland waterway sector
- Pools for tri-modally-compatible intermodal
loading units
- Reliable transport and logistics information
systems
3. "common learning actions" - stimulating
co-operative behaviour in the freight logistics market
- improving co-operation and sharing of know-how
- mutual training- coping with an increasingly
complex transport and logistics
market;
- duration up to 2 years
- subsidy rate up to 50%
- minimum subsidy threshold 0.25 Mio€
Examples of actions:
- Improving procedures and methods in sea and
inland ports
- Co-operation between railways and inland
waterway
- New co-operation and capacity management models
in rail
- Adapting procedures and methods in transport
systems to meet today’s logistics requirements
- Improving pricing, procedures and methods in the
terminal
- Creating European training centres
- Actions to increase the demand for no-road
transport
- Action aiming to improve shippers’s
understanding of intermodal freight transport.
BUDGET
The budget of Marco Polo Programme for the period of
2003 to 2006 amounts to 100 € million for the EU 25. This is the
amount of the available Community co-financing, ranging
from 30 to 50 % of the total sum of eligible costs of
the projects.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
All segments of the international freight transport
market are within the scope of the Programme:
- Commercial enterprises in all member states,
including EFTA-EEA (European Fair Trade
Association-European Economic Area)
- Services only, i.e. no RTD, no studies, no (core)
infrastructure
- Commercial undertakings only, international
trajectories, involving the territories of EU Member
States and “Close third countries”
- “Close third country”, e.g. Cand.Countries, EEA&EFTA,
Mediterr. Countries- eligible to participate in a
project consortium, if entity situated in EU Member
States
- EFTA & EEA States after conclusion of specific
agreement*, Candidate States after Memoranda of
Understanding (BG, RO, TY) - eligible for EC-funding
if costs arise only on territory of EU25 Member
States
- At least 2 independent undertakings situated in
2 different eligible countries, of which at least 1
must be in EU
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