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Transport infrastructure and facilitation is a cornerstone for economic development. However, inadequate management, insufficient investment, and – in some countries- direct war damage, had left transport infrastructure in South Eastern Europe in poor condition and had left to serious backlog in construction, maintenance and rehabilitation. Moreover, the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, which resulted in the emergence of new independent countries in SEE, led to a multiplication of international borders and decision-making centres for planning, regulating and investing in the transport sector in the region. This created impediments for integrated regional economic development and trade over the past decade.
Following the extensive planning exercises carried out by the EU in the 1990s to define the trans-European transport networks (TEN) for the Member States and the accession countries, the need for further planning in SEE to involve the countries participating in the Stabilisation and Association process in the Trans-European Transport Network was recognized. This culminated in the REBIS Study (Regional Balkan Infrastructure Study), which was under the supervision of the Infrastructure Steering Group (see ISG and IFIAG), and consequently in the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Development of the South Eastern Europe Core Regional Transport Network (Core Network) in June 11, 2004. As member fo the ISG, the SP roles in this exercise was to give the political support and to exercise the trouble shooting function in the process.
By joining the MoU, together with the European Commission, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo) committed themselves to cooperate for enhancing the development of regional transport network in SEE. The Core Network includes 4,300 km of railways across five SEE countries in the Western Balkans, 6,000 km of roads, major ports and airports, and, in the inland waterways Danube and Sava. The total cost of developing the Core Network was estimated at over €16 billion and 17 priority projects were identified. The MoU also provided for setting up a regional mechanism for coordination – the Regional Steering Committee, the purpose of which is to supervise and promote the implementation of the Core Network. Its members are senior representatives from the signatory countries and the European Commission. The Committee is assisted by a South Eastern Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO), headquartered in Belgrade, which started working in 2005.
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