Brussels, October 3, 2012. - For the first time, the European Parliament in Brussels hosted an international conference dedicated to the Via Carpatia transport corridor connecting seven European Union countries (Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece).

The conference was organized and moderated by Tomasz Poręba MEP. The conference aimed to disseminate and strengthen the image of Via Carpatia as the most important transport route in the eastern regions of the EU.

The longest section of Via Carpatia called S19 road runs through Poland. The conference on the future of the Via Carpatia route was attended by ministers, deputies, senators, marshals and representatives of the Via Carpatia regions, as well as international experts, the European Commission's TEN-T network directorate and ambassadors to the Kingdom of Belgium and Steel, representatives to the EU of the countries through which the route passes.

The idea of creating Via Carpatia road route was first launched by Poland in 2006 in Lancut under the patronage and in the presence of late Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland.

On October 22, 2010, during the international conference in Lancut, the Ministers of Transport of seven countries along the route signed a new version of the Lancut Declaration, in which they committed, among others, to They undertook, among others, to take all possible measures to include the above-mentioned route on its entire length (Klaipeda - Kaunas - Białystok - Lublin - Rzeszów - Kosice - Miskolc - Debrecen - Oradea - Logoj - Calafat/Constanta - Sofija/Svilengrad - Thessaloniki) to the TEN-T network.

Currently, within the TEN-T network, the Via Carpatia is divided into sections, the implementation of which is planned at various, very distant intervals, which threatens the integrity of the entire route. On 27 November, the European Parliament's transport committee will vote on an amendment to the TEN-T revision regulation, tabled by MEP Tomasz Poręba, proposing that the entire length of the Via Carpatia route be included in the core TEN-T network.

- The Via Carpatia project has been met with great enthusiasm. Cohesion policy extended by the infrastructural dimension will strengthen and stimulate equal development of the regions. Access to transport networks must become comprehensive. Much now depends on the individual Member States and regions to prove that they can apply for and spend the funds fairly," said Jean-Éric Paquet, Director at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport.

- Today is another step in the fight for the Via Carpatia route to be included in the so-called core network of the TEN-T regulation, which would consequently guarantee both the expansion of the route and its modernization. The Via Carpatia would be an undeniable boost to tourism as well as economic development in the region. The Commission proposes that the Via Carpatia should be divided into sections and treated as a single route connecting the EU's eastern countries. I welcome this positive attitude of the Commission. The time has come to strengthen and promote this initiative - said Law and Justice MEP Tomasz Poręba.

Septimiu Buzasu - State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania said instead: - With the signing of the Declaration of Luzhniki in 2010, Romania committed itself to its objectives. This is not an ordinary road, this is a route to ensure economic development.

According to the Deputy Speaker of the Polish Parliament Marek Kuchciński: - The Carpathian region needs support, and communicatively it is poorly organized. It is a transport route of particular importance for the EU. This initiative is an important part of the further development of the Eastern Partnership, which, by the way, is insufficiently supported. Our governments and national parliaments should support this declaration, as it is an element of European solidarity.

Jan Hudacký - Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs of the Slovak National Council in his presentation stressed the role that expressways play in the process of stimulating economic growth and development of tourism in the regions through which Via Carpatia will run. He also added that the expansion of Slovak expressways has a clear impact on the decrease of unemployment in the region.

Senator of the Republic of Poland Mr. Władysław Ortyl and member of the Polish Parliament Mr. Stanisław Ożóg emphasized that the inclusion of Via Carpatia in the TEN-T core network is, from the point of view of broadly understood safety, a strategic interest of the entire Europe. They also pointed out that the Via Carpatia expressway perfectly fits into the policy of equalizing opportunities within the EU cohesion policy and therefore we all need to intensify our efforts towards the governments of the nation states.

Other participants and speakers at the conference included: Alexander Micovcin - Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the EU, Vladislav Stoikov - Head of Kiustendil District, Mircea Ioan Molot - Chairman of Hunedoara District Council, Lucjan Kuźniar - Board Member of Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Walenty Korycki - Deputy Marshal of Podlaskie Voivodeship. Podlaskie, Marian Constantin Vasile - Deputy Chairman of Temesz District Council, Andrzej Wyczawski - Mayor of Jarosław, Marek Ustrobinski - Deputy Mayor of Rzeszów, Olexa Ladislav - Head of the Transport Department in Košice, Loreta Navakauskienė - Advisor to the Mayor of Kaunas Region, Natalia Tarasovova - Director of Prešov Region Office in Brussels and experts and ambassadors: Dawid Lasek - Vice President of the Carpathian Euroregion Association, Adrian Mazur from the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Maritime Affairs, Artur Harazim - Ambassador of Poland to the Kingdom of Belgium, Tamás Iván Kovacs - Ambassador of Hungary, Vesselin Valkanov - Ambassador of Bulgaria to the Kingdom of Belgium, Alexander Micovcin - Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the EU. The position of the European Commission was presented by Jean-Éric Paquet - Director, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport.

Conference participants adopted by acclamation the "Brussels Declaration on the Via Carpatia Transport Route."