CEF CALL FOR SAFE AND SECURE PARKING AREAS PUBLISHED
On 16 September, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) published a funding call of €100 million as part of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the development and upgrading of Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPAs).
The call’s general objective is to modernise transport infrastructure on the Core and Comprehensive Networks of the TEN-T. Funding within this call can be requested for the development of new areas, as well as for the upgrading of existing ones, provided the parking area conforms with the EU SSTPA Standard. If the action is not located directly on the Core Road network or if it is located on the Comprehensive Road network, the application has to justify its utility for the functioning of the Core Network. The foreseen duration of the action should be 4-5 years maximum.
In welcoming the funding, Ms Nicolette van der Jagt, Director General of CLECAT noted: “Currently, the industry observes a shortage of around 100.000 parking spaces to meet the demand of 400.00 parking spaces, out of which only around 7.000 are in some way certified as safe and secure parking areas. We welcome the publication of this call and particularly its connection to the EU SSTPA Standard, as this will be instrumental to address the urgent need for parking areas along the TEN-T Network. CLECAT has long been advocating for the importance of increasing the number of safe and secure parking areas along the TEN-T Network, and therefore greatly appreciates the ongoing cooperation with DG MOVE in the SSTPA Expert Group.”