Goal of the Transport Community is full integration of transport markets so there is no difference in how transport operates in the EU and candidate countries – Permanent Secretariat Director
Exclusive interview with Director of the Permanent Secretariat of the Transport Community Matej Zakonjšek for Interfax-Ukraine
By Iryna Somer
In Ukraine, only professionals are familiar with the activities of the Transport Community (TC), and even with its very existence. At the same time, the TC is an important instrument of the European Union in matters of mobility and integration of transport markets of candidate countries into the European one. This concerns the implementation of legislation and, accordingly, standards across road, rail, inland waterways and maritime transport, as well as in airports (excluding aviation itself).
The TC was established in October 2017 by EU member states and six Western Balkan partners at the time—five of them EU candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia), while the sixth, Kosovo, is not recognized by a number of states, including Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine, and does not have candidate status. In 2022, three additional candidate countries—Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia—joined as observers.
The TC works directly on the gradual extension of the EU’s core transport network—TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network)—to the Western Balkans, and since July 2022 to Ukraine and Moldova. TEN-T consists of three layers: the core network (to be completed by 2030), the extended core network (by 2040), and the comprehensive network connecting all EU regions (by 2050).
A Permanent Secretariat was established in Belgrade to ensure the functioning of the TC, headed by Slovenia’s Matej Zakonjšek. This is his first interview with Ukrainian media.
Q: Don't you see the TC’s work as duplicating that of the European Commission, which is responsible for Ukraine’s EU integration, including in transport?
A: Our work is not duplicating at all. It's completely aligned and it's building on the work that the European Union is doing. We have the same principle, the same goals—the integration of the transport markets of the Western Balkan region, but also Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia into the European Union.
Our goals are the same, but the support we're offering is complementary to what the EU is doing. Our main counterparts are the ministries and authorities in different parts of the region, and of course the European Commission, specifically DG Move and DG ENEST. These are our daily contacts and daily work.
When we're offering support and technical assistance, we do it together and harmonize it so we can reinforce the same message: we want to see the entire transport networks of the region—the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova—completely integrated within the EU based on the same standards. And of course, we want to see projects connecting the region with the EU.
Q: The TC was initially created for the Balkans. Why were Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia invited as observers?
A: The important element is that Europe's transport networks can only be fully functional and efficient once we have all these participants—the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova—as integral parts. This is equally important for those countries and for the EU.
If you look at the maps, the shortest route from Greece to Slovenia goes through the Western Balkans. If you want the shortest land connection between Asia or the Middle East through the Suez and towards the EU, many of these connections go through the Western Balkans, Ukraine, and Moldova.
Once we saw this was working well in the Western Balkans, and especially after Russian aggression in Ukraine, it became clear that one way to give additional support was to work on connectivity—the basis of everything.
Good connections are essential for society to function: exercising basic rights like going to school, visiting doctors, and conducting business. Without sustainable connections, none of this is possible. This is a prerequisite of modern society.
When it comes to Transport Community work, our aim is not only to bring them closer, but to completely integrate them. We're talking about having the same systems and standards as in the EU. That's the end goal—not approximation, but identical systems. This will help the networks function properly.
We need legislation and reforms for all modes of transport, and projects connecting the EU with candidate countries. The enlargement process has two chapters specifically for transport—chapter 14 on transport policy and chapter 21 on TEN-T networks. These are integral to our work. The aim of the Transport Community treaty is complete integration of transport markets so there's no difference in how transport is organized and operates in the Union or candidate countries.
Q: EU transport legislation accounts for about 25% of the EU acquis, yet Ukraine’s TC Action Plan implementation shows almost no progress. What's your assessment of Ukraine's progress in integrating with the EU transport market?
A: The process is indeed very complex and vast. The amount of legislation that needs transposing and implementing is very large. That's why so much of EU acquis is transport acquis—this poses a challenge for everybody.
Second, when it comes to Ukraine, needless to say, the war conditions are an additional element that doesn't help things move faster. But we completely understand that some things will take more time and some things will need to wait for conditions on the ground to change, especially regarding implementation. We're showing significant understanding on this.
Third, on a political level, cooperation has been really excellent. We've seen good progress on technical levels across different transport modes. For example, we have excellent cooperation with colleagues in the inland waterway and maritime sectors.
At the same time, the Ukrainian railway system is vast, which poses big challenges both for legislation and reforms and for ground implementation. Both in the Western Balkans and in Ukraine and Moldova, we see the challenge of administrative capacity to deliver on reforms. This is why we spend so much time building capacities.
We receive feedback from ministries asking for capacity building assistance. Many of our projects focus on technical assistance, studies, and exchanges of best practices with EU member states to help with this.
Q: For now, the TC reports a lagging in getting technical information from Ukraine to assess how implementation action plans are progressing. How do you assess this?
A: We do see that on a daily basis a lot of things are happening. It's a combination of things happening on the ground and the information we receive.
For some things we haven't received information. Again, the situation is so specific in Ukraine right now that I have very much understanding why this is the case. The war doesn't allow many things to happen. We trust that as things move forward and hopefully normalize, this dynamic will change. We're working specifically with the European Commission on DG Move for the technical side and DG ENEST for specific Ukraine files to be as supportive as we can be.
We provide many trainings and capacity building projects. We're already grateful that many Ukrainian colleagues could join trainings we've organized around the EU and here in Belgrade. At the same time, we understand the challenges—it's not easy to travel. All these problems compound and reflect in our work. I would be more understanding in that respect.
Q: What projects is the TC currently implementing with Ukraine?
A: We have several dedicated projects right now.
In road transport, for example, we're providing technical assistance on type approval and implementation acts—11 legal acts that will be ready for implementation and practice in Ukraine.
In waterborne maritime transport, we have technical assistance specifically for aligning with EU legislation. There we have 13 legal acts we're preparing.
All of this will be ready in May—within one month's time. This will be ready for Ukrainian authorities to transpose into national legislation, go through legal procedures, and then implement on the ground. These are examples of technical assistance we're already providing.
Q: How realistic is it for Ukraine to meet TEN-T requirements by 2030?
A: TEN-T has three elements: maps with core and comprehensive networks determined, standards, and deadlines—2030 for the core network, 2040 for extended core, and 2050 for comprehensive. I cannot give an exact percentage because that's only possible after the deadline passes. This is a process.
Railways are already challenging in the EU to meet 2030 deadlines even without war conditions Ukraine is having. It's impossible right now to give predictions for 2030 or certainly 2050 for Ukraine. But we do see that already, in these conditions, modernization projects are ongoing in Ukraine—for railways, roads, bridges, and systems.
How this translates exactly into network readiness by 2030 remains to be seen. There are factors beyond our control, specifically the war. But the trajectory is going in the right direction. Modernization of railway tracks is happening. Work on different legislation—maritime and roads—is happening. How much this translates into ground changes and by when is perhaps premature to say, but the direction of travel is positive.
Q: What is your main message to Ukrainian authorities and citizens?
A: Transport and transport infrastructure is the vehicle for everything else to happen.
The focus should be on what needs to happen, by when, and making sure to use all possible assistance from the Transport Community, European Commission, and international financing institutions. This is the way to move to a system connected to networks with all transport modes integrated into a modern system serving people and businesses.
Having clear focus, a clear list of priorities, and knowing what will happen when—this is most important. We talk with colleagues daily about this. And we're here to offer any support we can to help the Ukrainian government and people make this a reality.
Q: What are the benefits for Ukrainian people?
A: The benefits would be a modern transport network according to the best European standards, supported by reform legislation and processes supporting projects and systems. This means safer roads, faster roads, modern railways, connection to European Union networks, less waiting time at borders, safer and more climate-efficient transport on roads, rail, and waterborne transport.
We have a social part too—passenger rights and workers' rights. We have action plans knowing exactly what needs to happen when in different modes. We have vision. There's EU financing support. All of this is going in the direction it needs to.
In the end, everyday citizens want to travel from point A to point B conveniently, quickly, safely, and affordably. Businesses want to know if they can export 300 kilometers or 600 kilometers, how long trucks wait at borders—one hour or five hours. These decisions determine whether businesses export or not. Transport is an enabler of life, connectivity, and our ability to exercise daily things we consider rights—go to school, work, conduct business. The value is the connectivity. Everything else—reforms, technical work, interoperability—comes from that. This is our focus.
Q: What is your main achievement as director?
A: I was already re-elected once. Two mandates finishing in July. I'm proud of several things. We had to build the entire organization from scratch.
The biggest difference is that, for the first time, the entire region looks at transport as an integrated part of the entire region and the EU. There's been a paradigm shift from different individual projects—a patchwork of 200 kilometers here, 20 kilometers there—to understanding what this means for functioning of the European network we're part of. This means what happens not just in your neighbor but in places further away is equally important for your railway line if you want to connect it across the EU.
Ministers now work as one. There's real regional understanding, not individual focus on what's happening in specific regional partners. This is the heart of what we do.
Looking at maps, before this region wasn't connected to the European network. Now you can't see the difference between EU and non-EU because when it comes to transport, that doesn't exist anymore. This has been a huge step forward in changing thinking.
Concretely, when it comes to border crossing waiting times, we worked with CEFTA. During COVID, borders started closing. We established green lanes to ensure medical equipment and perishable goods could flow, then extended to all goods. This system has progressively reduced border waiting times over these years.
On the reform side, we see progressive application of EU Treaty and Transport Community treaty in the Western Balkans. Compliance percentages are going up for full and partial compliance. We want even more dynamics—reaching full compliance.
A key achievement has been inviting Ukraine and Moldova to be part of the Transport Community. Ministers recognized that although geography is different, challenges and what we can do together are the same. The logic is the same—connecting to transport markets, doing the same reforms, complete integration into the European Union with the same standards. This is something I'm personally very proud of.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
A: When I traveled to Kyiv and used the Ukrainian railways, I saw the dedication of people working there, making this possible. We talk about reforms and so on, but the work is done by people on the ground. I not only have respect but real admiration for people working in transport under these conditions—especially under war conditions. I was treated incredibly well. The professionalism of people is remarkable.
The reality of the ground is stark—you wake in the middle of the night with alarms here and there. The reality hits you. At the same time, you see the resilience of Ukrainian people. The train departed on time, it went on time, the tickets were there, the system is there. This resilience of citizens is something not only to appreciate but to really cherish.
This is the strength of Ukraine and Ukrainian people—not for the next year but forever. This is something to really keep close to your hearts.
