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The Commissioner emphasises smart urban mobility solutions, cost-effective railways, a common marketing approach toward Asian ports and a number of other projects, worth an estimated EUR 1bn which are part of the European single sky policy.

Q: Transport represents 5 percent of EU GDP, which is 13 percent of EU consumer expenditure. The Commission has decided to pay special attention to the execution of the smart cities policy, digitalisation and sustainable transport systems. How do you plan to realise these?

A: Smart urban mobility solutions, in both passenger transport and logistics, can help to improve the efficiency of transport considerably. We pursue three elements: better coordination of our policies and initiatives; improved access to finance; and improved technical assistance. One concrete example of technical assistance is the expansion of the successful ELENA facility of the European Investment Bank (EIB) to cover smart urban mobility. The EIB will support cities to develop projects of sufficient scale, with a convincing business model and where additional private and public capital can be sourced. The Commission is supporting investment in smart mobility and innovative transport solutions, in alternative energy sources and intelligent transport systems through the Horizon 2020 programme. We are co-funding infrastructure projects in EU Member States under the Connecting Europe Facility and we have put in place several programmes to encourage cities and towns to improve the quality of life by introducing more sustainable transport solutions such as the "European Mobility Week" campaign and programmes such as CIVITAS.

Ensuring fair competition is therefore key to encouraging private investors to inject capital in innovative and more costeffective railway companies.
Effective competition encourages state-owned, ex-monopolist companies to shape up, become more cost-effective and improve their services for the benefit of customers and shareholders alike.

Q: The 4th Railway Package deals with the liberalisation of the railways in Europe which aims to create an integrated railway system at the EU level. In many EU countries, including Slovenia, the opening of this sector still depends on state-owned companies with a majority market share. How does the Commission promote a more equitable access to the railway sector by private investors?

A: Liberalising railways in Europe does not mean that state-owned companies need to be privatised. Effective competition between public and private undertakings in the railway sector is possible, provided that the regulatory framework establishes a level playing field between competitors. The legislative proposals of the 4th Railway Package aim to ensure that new competitors are granted non-discriminatory access to rail infrastructure and that they do not suffer from unfair competition, for example, from cross subsidies within vertically integrated undertakings. Ensuring fair competition is therefore key to encouraging private investors to inject capital in innovative and more cost-effective railway companies. Effective competition encourages state-owned, ex-monopolist companies to shape up, become more cost-effective and improve their services for the benefit of customers and shareholders alike. Having said this, Member States can also decide to sell a stake in their state-owned railway undertakings to private investors, or even privatise them entirely.

Q: It is an objective of the Commission to extend tourism within and to Europe. Tourism inevitably needs transport. How do you balance the need for a sustainable transport system, the reduction of greenhouse gases, and the requirement to increase transport for tourism?

A: Through digitalisation of transport we can improve existing infrastructure and provide more efficient transport services. This is challenging and appealing at the same time. Smart applications and services, based on shared multimodal travel and traffic data, are a good example: The resulting information can direct drivers to less congested routes, direct vehicles to where there is free space to park and allow fares to be adapted to the level of traffic. Travel information and planning services across different transport modes provide travellers with complete and reliable information about various options, making them aware of more sustainable forms of transport.

Q: Today, the northern Adriatic ports, including Slovenia's Luka Koper, have reached a throughput of around 110 million tonnes that is only a quarter of, for example Rotterdam, the largest European port. The potential of the region is still underutilised however, with their strategic geographical position, Luka Koper represents the shortest way for cargo coming from Asia to Central European markets which is important in terms of cost, time and pollution. How is the Commission planning to deal with this issue?

The northern Adriatic ports could also develop tighter cooperation to manage their common hinterland and undertake common marketing actions towards Asia to create a critical mass to attract traffic.

A: Northern Adriatic ports can indeed minimise the land leg of the international transport chains to Central Europe, but they must offer infrastructure and efficient services readily available for larger vessels, which have become the norm on EU-Asia trade routes. The trans-European network is a fantastic opportunity for the northern Adriatic ports which are at the cross roads of the Baltic-Adriatic corridor and the Mediterranean corridor. The Commission offers support to coordinate infrastructure planning along the corridors and provide financial support to build, in particular, the necessary rail connections and port adaptation. I hope that we will receive some good proposals from the next call for proposals to be published by December this year, and that the Koper-Divača rail-link will be mature enough to be retained.

We also need transparent accounts and efficient port services which is why, after the agreement of the Council last year on Port Regulation, I hope that the European Parliament will make quick progress in adopting it. It will be an important sign for port investors. The northern Adriatic ports could also develop tighter cooperation to manage their common hinterland and undertake common marketing actions towards Asia to create a critical mass to attract traffic.

Q: At the conference on "China and Europe", hosted by the IEDC Bled School of Management earlier this year, one of the attendees suggested that the Port of Koperand Chinese businesses should work together to the port and bring in a large 2 percentage of Chinese investment to allow proper expansion and the completion of the port's railway system. How would the Commission view that?

A: Enhanced synergies between China's 'One Belt and One Roaď initiative and the EU's connectivity initiatives such as the Trans-European Transport Network Policy, conforms to the shared interests and will create multiple business opportunities and promote employment, growth and development for both sides. Maritime transport and ports will play a key role in this context. China is therefore welcome to participate - through financing for instance - in the development of projects aimed at strengthening the connectivity between our two continents. In view of this, a level playing field for investors and relevant businesses should be assured. Both sides should commit to promoting openness, transparency and non-discrimination in their respective markets and in third-party countries. If China decides to invest in the development of ports, such as Koper or other ports in the EU, it should go along these lines.

Q: Single European Sky is an aim the Commission is following by exerting more pressure on the Member States. Airlines, airport operators and air-navigation service providers will receive up to EUR 3bn in EU funding through the Connecting Europe facility for common projects. How is this progressing?

A: SESAR deployment is indeed progressing very well. Last September, INEA launched the first call for proposals under the CEF programme, which included a specific area on SESAR deployment with co-funding potential of EUR 285m from the estimated EUR 3bn planned until 2020. I signed the framework partnership agreement that effectively completes the setup of SESAR deployment governance. The CEF call resulted in the selection of the first 100 projects that will start the implementation of the first Common Project, therefore effectively initiating the coordinated deployment of SESAR solutions. The response to the call has been very encouraging and proves the commitment of the stakeholders to deploy SESAR under this new framework. In fact, the final amount of funding awarded to these projects has increased to EUR 325m. A second call for proposals under the CEF is now being prepared. We understand that stakeholders are already preparing a further batch of projects worth an estimated EUR 1bn.