"The EU’s trans-European transport network policy, the TEN-T policy, is a key instrument for planning and developing a coherent, efficient, multimodal, and high-quality transport infrastructure across the EU. The network comprises railways, inland waterways, short sea shipping routes and roads linking urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, airports and terminals.
The trans-European transport network is designed according to an objective methodology. It consists of three layers, the core network, the extended core network and the comprehensive network. The core network includes the most important connections between major cities and nodes, and must be completed by 2030. The extended core network needs to be completed ten years later, in 2040. The comprehensive network connects all regions of the EU to the core network and needs to be completed by 2050.
The purpose of the infrastructure requirements for the TEN-T network are twofold. They ensure that transport infrastructure users can count on an efficient, reliable and high-performing infrastructure wherever they are in the EU. This important for our economic development and competitiveness and the cohesion of the EU." (European Commission).