The New Trans European Transport Network and the European Security Architecture: Corridor VIII in the Western Balkans European Corridor
CDI signed a Cooperation Agreement with the High Inspector of Justice
March 16, 2022
Our visit to Brussels with Tirana European Youth Capital 2022
May 6, 2022
The European Transport Corridors, such as Corridor VIII, are a visible expression of international, EU, and regional connectivity. They are the tangible EU contribution to the growth and social cohesion in the Balkan Peninsula. Infrastructural alignments create common living spaces. Transport corridors help create regional linkages and rapprochement between communities and peoples.
In respect to that ambitious inter-regional approach, the amendment on guidelines for the “Trans-European transport network” (TEN-T), published in December 2021 by the EU Commission, provides an excellent opportunity for the SEE6 countries to adapt, update and upgrade their transport networks in line with European Union.
The policy paper, elaborated by “Cooperation and Development Institute” (CDI), Tirana, and “Economic Policy Institute” (EPI), Sofia, in cooperation with the branch offices of “Hanns-Seidel-Foundation” (HSF) in Albania and Bulgaria, builds upon of the previous common Policy-Paper “Corridor VIII East Gate – promoting Flagship 1: Connecting East to West”, and complements it with analytical specifications.
The paper focusses on the challenges and opportunities that the new TEN-T offers for SEE6, detailing the extent to which the new TEN-T-regulations and their respective methodology can lead among the Western Balkans to efficient “multi-stakeholder cooperation”. In that optic, pan-European Corridor VIII is not only an infrastructure project but a mechanism for stronger regional cooperation as well as a key element of the new European security architecture in the NATO southern flank.
The paper focusses on the challenges and opportunities that the new TEN-T offers for SEE6, detailing the extent to which the new TEN-T-regulations and their respective methodology can lead among the Western Balkans to efficient “multi-stakeholder cooperation”. In that optic, pan-European Corridor VIII is not only an infrastructure project but a mechanism for stronger regional cooperation as well as a key element of the new European security architecture in the NATO southern flank.
With the participation of all relevant state-, economic- and civil society forces, “Corridor VIII” can become a joint project in a united Europe that is sustainable in terms of transformation policy and directly contributes to the membership drive of the SEE6 countries.
This Policy Paper was prepared in the framework of the online working table “Planning the New Trans-European Transport Network” organized by the Cooperation Development Institute on 16.02.2022 in partnership with the Economic Policy Institute in Sofia and supported by Hanns Seidel Stiftung (Tirana Office).
