Marco Polo Call for Proposals 2009

Under the 2009 call for proposals, 62m Euro funds will be available for projects addressing any of the five Marco Polo key actions:
-Modal shift: exploit the potential of alternatives to road such as short sea shipping, railways and inland waterways;
-Catalyst actions: support innovations that help overcome technical barriers to intermodal transport;
-Motorways of the sea: use motorways of the sea in combination with other modes of transport;
-Traffic avoidance: reduce the need for transporting goods by road via improved logistics;
-Common learning: address training and other ‘soft’ factors within the transport business.
The key novelties of the 2009 call:
-The funding intensity doubles from 1 € to 2 € per 500 tonne-kilometres shifted: this will apply to
modal shift, motorways of the sea and traffic avoidance actions;
-Inland waterways become a funding priority: 10% of the call budget is reserved to inland waterways
transport projects, provided that they meet the selection criteria;
-The application period will be extended to three months: the deadline for submitting a proposal is 8 May 2009.

The 2009 call for proposals is published on the Official Journal of the European Union since 7 February (OJ C 31). The full call text with its annexes and any additional supporting document is available on the Marco Polo website as of 9 February. The call will close on 8 May 2009.
For more information visit: http://ec.europa.eu/marcopolo