"Our investment plan for Europe works for Slovenia - today we're proposing an investment exceeding 109 million euro for the Koper-Divača link upgrade," European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said.

The Commission believes the funds will go to improve the capacity, security and reliability of the link and to reduce the travel time.

The Koper-Divača link is a bottleneck on the core TEN-T network, impeding cargo transport from the port in Koper, so the Commission proposes co-funding the project as a contribution to development of the second rail track and construction of the needed tunnels.

According to Brussels, the Commission's investment is to mobilise a total of EUR 436.1m in public and private co-funding.

Bulc described the second track as a project which clearly brings added value for citizens and businesses not only in Slovenia but for the whole of the EU.

Along with other supported projects, it will accelerate the transition to low-carbon mobility and contribute to the efforts for growth and jobs, Bulc said.

Commenting on the decision, State Secretary Jure Leben said that, by awarding EU funds to the project for a second time this year, the Commission demonstrated that this was a key project for Slovenia and Europe.

Leben, who is responsible for the project at Slovenia's Infrastructure Ministry, said the funds would be allocated for the construction of 16.7 kilometres of tunnels, along with service tunnels.

With the EUR 109m approved today, the EUR 44m awarded by the Commission earlier, and the funds Slovenia plans to draw from the cohesion envelope of the operative programme, Slovenia has secured EUR 234m of the 250m in EU funds planned for the project.

Meanwhile, Leben as well as Metod Dragonja, general manager of the 2TDK company managing the project, warned that the law on the project has still not come into effect, so the funds cannot be used.

Despite being endorsed in the 23 September referendum, the law cannot take effect because of an appeal filed with the Supreme Court by the lead referendum petitioner, Vili Kovačič.

Today, the government set up a board to exercise civilian oversight of the project with a call now to be drawn up by the Transport Ministry and the anti-graft watchdog to select board members.

One member will be appointed by the infrastructure minister, while eight will be picked based on a public call by a commission comprising a representatives from each the Finance Ministry and the Infrastructure Ministry and the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.

Leben also said that Hungary's involvement in the project would be presented in detail to the coalition in a fortnight before the agreement is submitted to the government and parliament for endorsement.

"If all goes according to the plan we reckon the agreement could be signed at the beginning of February," Leben said.

The Commission today proposed investing a billion euro in 39 European transport projects designed to upgrade the European railway network, develop infrastructure for alternative fuels and pave the way for emissions-free water transport.

The latest call combines a billion euro from the CEF mechanism and other public and private financing sources, including the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

According to the Commission, the Slovenian transport sector has so far received EUR 318.1m from the CEF for projects valued at EUR 981.8m. So far 30 projects have been signed with Slovenia.