This report summarises the findings and recommendations from the EU Interreg Baltic Sea Region (BSR) TENTacle project, which aimed to increase the stakeholder capacity to capitalise on the TEN-T core network corridors for prosperity, sustainable growth
and territorial cohesion in the BSR. The project was carried out during the years 2016-2019 in the partnership with 23 organisations from nine countries in the BSR.
The project, apart from macroregional analyses, contained nine pilot cases (showcases), displaying a variety of context-related opportunities to reap core network corridor gains in diverse geographical locations. Among these were:
• Corridor node and transit areas: Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link (DE/DK), Westpomerania – Skåne (PL/SE), Gdynia transport node (PL)
• Corridor catchment areas: Blekinge (SE), Vidzeme (LV)
• Corridor void areas: Central Scandinavia borderland (SE/NO), Lahti – North Karelia (FI)
• Corridor extension areas: Catching the goods transports from the northern regions to CNCs (logistics hub function of the Örebro region), interactions between the CNCs and transport networks of the EU Eastern Partnership countries.
In addition, TENTacle gathered corridor governance experiences from earlier BSR Interregprojects and conducted an analysis to investigate the effects related to both the improved connectivity and the wider economic benefits of the CNC implementation. The
impact analysis showed potential positive and negative impacts of the corridor infrastructure investments both geographically and by stakeholder category. Based on all these results, suitable policy and action responses were formulated, to either boost or mitigate potential effects of the CNC implementation, in the near future, but also from a long-term perspective.
The key messages based on the findings in TENTacle are:
1. Monitor and analyse CNC implementation and the need for complementary development measures
Actors on different levels should continuously monitor and examine transport (flows, infrastructure capacity) and socioeconomic
effects of the CNCs, as well as new market opportunities, business models and supply chains triggered by the CNC implementation. The information gathered from these activities should serve as a base for capitalising on the CNCs, generating
growth due to modal shifts and for initiating and adjusting complementary policy and investment measures. Needs for supplementing the current pattern of the core network corridors by additional links and extensions both within the BSR, to
the other parts of the EU andthe EU neighbouring countries should also be taken into account.
2 Support co-ownership, co-responsibility and co-creation
Bottom-up corridor governance initiatives should be encouraged to allow broader groups of public and market sector stakeholders to receive information about and engage in the collaboration to benefit from the corridor investments, or, if needed, to alleviate any presumed negative impacts. It should be ensured that bottom-up and top-down processes interact enabling co-creation. Intensified business contacts along the corridor and in corridor extensions should be supported.
The European Coordinators are encouraged to continue their broad dialogue with stakeholders, to raise awareness, boost opportunities and overcome hindrances for development.
3. Enhance positive and mitigate negative effects
Functional infrastructure connections to the CNCs should be planned in the corridor node and transit areas, as well as in the corridor catchment and void areas. Positioning strategies and action plans for the affected cities and towns should be
prepared, also including adaptation strategies for business stakeholders, preparing them for the changes induced by the completed corridor investments and ensuring they are ready for gaining from the advantages of the new realities.
Re-distributional policies, such as subsidies, tax policy measures or growth initiatives for the territories which might potentially suffer from negative corridor impacts should be considered. The development of new technologies and alternative
fuels,as well as electrification infrastructure in the corridors, should be supported, including alternative financing models for infrastructure investments. Missing links in the geographical coverage of the core network corridors in the BSR and corridor
extensions should be promoted, bearing in mind the expected contribution of the TEN-T network to the social, economic and territorial cohesion. This also implies a fuller integration of relevant Motorway of the Sea links as maritime legs of the core
network corridors (e.g. the Gdynia – KarlskronaMoS connection). New ideas and business opportunities shaped in the cocreationbetween stakeholders and the dispersion of best practices are important elements of a successful policy response.
4. Long-term and durable implementation
The policy and action measures should be co-created in a stakeholder interaction process so that they can be influenced by the users’ specific interests and expectations. In the TENTacle showcases the action-oriented outputs were delivered through
multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral interaction. For the long-term durability, a designated organisation was given responsibility forformal approval of the showcase outcomes and for inserting them in a binding document (e.g. action plan).
To achieve a capacity change also at the macroregionallevel, avast number of intergovernmental networks,e.g. CMPR Baltic Sea Commission, BSSSC (Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation), VASAB, BPO (Baltic Ports Organization) are expected to
further process the TENTacle outcomes. An overarching role in managing and monitoring the capacity change could potentially be assumed by the Coordination Group of EUSBSR PA Transport, assisted by the BSR ACCESS project platform.
Region Blekinge , 2019. , p. 48