No more difference between EU and Ukraine in Transport Community – Permanent Secretariat director
Matej Zakonjšek, Director of the Permanent Secretariat of the Transport Community (TC), notes that the difference between EU member states and non-EU countries, including Ukraine, within the TC framework has been eliminated.
"Now, when you look at the map, you no longer see a difference between the EU and non-EU countries because when it comes to transport, the difference no longer exists, and this was a huge step forward and a massive way to change the prevailing mindset," Zakonjšek said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, in cooperation with colleagues from various departments, there has been a paradigm shift from viewing various projects of individual regional partners as a patchwork of local transport systems to understanding what they mean for the functioning of the pan-European network. The TC is working on the gradual expansion of the European Union’s core transport network—TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network)—to the Western Balkans, with Ukraine and Moldova joined in July 2022.
"This means that what is happening, perhaps not only with your neighbor but even in a place two neighbors away, is equally important for a railway line if you want to connect something from your location all the way to another part of the EU. And this understanding now exists. It is no longer an individual focus only on what is happening with a specific regional partner, but a true regional understanding. And this is exactly the essence of what we are trying to do when we say that the TEN-T network is its heart," said the Director of the TC Permanent Secretariat.
Zakonjšek named the invitation for Ukraine and Moldova to participate in the Community as one of the key achievements. "The geography is different, but the challenges, the logic of connecting to transport markets, implementing the same reforms, and the intent are the same: full integration of these markets into the European Union and the introduction of the same standards. This is something I am also personally very proud of," he emphasized.
The TC is an important tool for the European Union regarding mobility and the integration of candidate countries’ transport markets into the European one. At the same time, according to the Director of the Permanent Secretariat, the Community’s work does not duplicate what the European Commission does. "We, of course, have the same principle and the same goals. These are the integration of the transport markets of the Western Balkans region, and now Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, into the European Union. But the support we offer complements what the EU does," he explained.
According to him, that is why the main partners of the TC are, on one hand, ministries and authorities in various parts of the region, and on the EU side—the European Commission, specifically the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) and the Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR).
"Our work is, in fact, daily contact for additional support and technical assistance, strengthening efforts for the full integration of all transport networks in the region—the Western Balkans, Ukraine, and Moldova—into the EU based on identical standards, so that projects connecting the region also connect it to the EU," Zakonjšek said.
