Programme:

By the invitation from Mauro D'Attis, Municipal Councillor of Brindisi (IT), and Vice President of the EPP-CoR Group, the EPP-CoR Group's held the External Seminar in Brindisi on June 16^th. The Seminar "Cities and regions developing a territorial-based trans-European transport network" gather almost 60 Members to the Nuovo Teatro Verdi in the heart of the city and was followed by a study visit. The conference gathered top level speakers in two high-level panels: the first titled "A thriving European Transport strategy in support of development and job creation", and the second "Best practices and European support to regional and local authorities".

9 a.m.              Opening:

• Michael Schneider, President of the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions
• Mauro D'Attis, Vice-president of the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions
• Santi Giuffrè, Municipal Governmental Commissioner for the City of Brindisi

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9.30 a.m.         A thriving European Transport strategy in support of development and job creation

This panel will investigate how an integrated transport policy can be a major contributor to a prosperous EU economy, generating trade, fostering economic growth and providing millions of jobs. We will discuss how to encourage the development of a competitive EU transport industry by promoting policies that are secure, innovative, efficient and environmentally friendly. We want to demonstrate that the trans-European transport network policy provides substantial support for the construction and development of transport infrastructure across the European Union, allowing the seamless, safe and sustainable mobility of persons and goods. We will investigate how the planning, development and operation of trans-European transport networks (TEN-T) play a substantial part in achieving major European Union objectives as defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy.

• Ugo Patroni Griffi, President of the Southern Adriatic Sea Port System
• Massimo Cassano, Junior Minister of Labour and Social Policies, government of the Republic of Italy
• Ivo Nesrovnal, Mayor of Bratislava
• Mario Valducci, Member of the Transport Regulation Authority national board

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10.45 a.m.       Coffee break

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11 a.m.            Keynote speech

• Antonio TAJANI, President of the European Parliament

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11.45 a.m.       Best practices panel/investments and European support to regional and local authorities

Throughout this panel we will present best practices on how to support targeted public and private investments in transport infrastructure and systems which can generate considerable direct and indirect employment effects at a time when unemployment remains high in some EU countries. We aim to show how to encourage greater synergies between different funding instruments and contributions from supranational, national, regional and local sources, together with public-private partnerships to alleviate this. Furthermore, we highlight the need to strengthen the capacity of LRAs to use innovative financial tools in delivering investments for the fulfilment of the policy's objectives.

• Dimitar Savov, Director of the National Transport Policy Directorate, Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications
• Francesco Bettoni, President of the Brescia-Bergamo-Milan Motorway (Bre-Be-Mi)
• José Ramón Díez de Revenga Albacete, General Director for Transport, Coasts and Ports, Regional Ministry for the Presidency and Public Works, Region of Murcia
• Nicola Melchiotti, Head of European Public Affairs and Regulation of Enel Group

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12.45 p.m.       Conclusions and adoption of the declaration on Developing a territorial-based trans-European transport network: our common challenge, our collective response

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1 p.m.              Lunch

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Participants may speak in: ES/DE/EL/EN/FR/HR/IT/HU/PL Participants may listen in: ES/DE/EL/EN/FR/IT/HU/PL