TEN-T funds have also been successfully used in PPPs especially to support studies. Similar incentive schemes could be envisaged for other EU priority areas like the environment (potentially an expansion of the scope of ELENA, the European Local Energy Assistance supporting the mobilisation of funds for investments in sustainable energy at local level) and access to new generation broadband infrastructure.
With respect to using TEN-T grants for works, the following amendments to the financial regulations would be supportive:
• The grant could be applied for in advance of signing the PPP contract. This would provide the beneficiary with greater upfront certainty of financing. The normal Calls for Proposal cycle could be expanded to include Calls dedicated to PPPs or more frequent Calls could be held;
• The use of a fund or escrow account could be a useful intermediary to receive the partial payments in advance of the start-up of availability payments. The fund also provides some protection in the event of a failure of the PPP;
• The grant could be applied against the entire availability payment instalment rather than just the construction cost component, recognising it is a blended payment composed of construction, financing, operational and maintenance expenses;
• The co-funding rate could be increased to address the lack of long term grant support and to create better leverage from the TEN-T grant.