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Roland Berger Report: Paving the way for the Central European North-South Infrastructure Corridor
The report “Making it happen. Paving the way for the European Central North-South Infrastructure Corridor” was presented during a debate held in Krynica, Poland. The authors stressed that the implementation of key components of this corridor by 2020 should be a shared commitment of the European Commission, of the national governments, of the transmission systems operators and of the funding institutions. The North-South Corridor – a series of connected energy infrastructure projects – is the key to the European integration process and a solution for increasing Romania’s energy security and competitiveness, reads a Roland Berger report.
According to the report, the Central European North-South Infrastructure Corridor is a key enabler for completing the European integration process by bolstering the connectivity, competitiveness and security of the EU- 11 and the European Union overall. Successful implementation of the Corridor would be a historical milestone in European integration, yielding enormous political, economic and social benefits. Of all sectors, highest priority is given to the further integration of Energy infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe. The North-South Corridor comprises a set of interrelated gas, electricity and oil transmission infrastructure projects which connect Central and Eastern European markets from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The Corridor seeks to overcome historically rooted East-West biases in cross-border transmission systems by implementing complementary North-South connections and thereby increasing the density, robustness and competitiveness of overall networks. At a time when energy security is at the top of the political agenda and infrastructure investments are widely acknowledged as a powerful driver of growth and competitiveness as well as a fundamental pillar of European integration, various grand political plans are discussed in Europe's policymaking circles. However, many of these ambitious plans have little chance of ever becoming reality. The North-South Corridor must not become another such project, for it is too important to Central and Eastern Europe and the EU. Thus, this paper goes beyond reaffirming the sound political rationale of the Corridor and sets out to answer the fundamental question: How can we make it happen?(Please read the full text on :http://www.ceep.be/www/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/CEEP_North_South_Corridor_Making-it-happen4.pdf)