The Trans-European road network (TERN) was defined by Council Decision 93/629/EEC of 29 October 1993, and is a project to improve the internal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

infrastructure of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU). The TERN project is one of several

Trans-European Transport Networks The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a planned network of roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure in the European Union. The TEN-T network is part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommun ...

. Decision 93/629/EEC expired on 30 June 1995 so it was further expanded by the Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, which added definition not only to the proposed road network, but to other

(TEN-T), as they came to be called. This Decision is no longer in force either since it was replaced by Decision No 661/2010/EUDecision No 661/2010/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network
/ref> of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network.

Details of the road network

The trans-European road network, as laid out by Article 9 of Decision 661/2010/EU, is to include motorways and high-quality roads, whether existing, new or to be adapted, which: * play an important role in long-distance traffic; or * bypass the main urban centres on the routes identified by the network; or * provide interconnection with other modes of transport; or * link landlocked and peripheral regions to central regions of the Union. Beyond these, the network should guarantee users a high, uniform and continuous level of services, comfort and safety. It has also include infrastructure for traffic management, user information, dealing with incidents and emergencies and electronic fee collection, such infrastructure being based on active cooperation between traffic management systems at European, national and regional level and providers of travel and traffic information and value added services, which will ensure the necessary complementarity with applications whose deployment is facilitated under the trans-European telecommunications networks programme.

Selected TERN projects

Øresund Bridge The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined List of road–rail bridges, railway and motorway cable-stayed bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the second longest bridge in Europe and combines both roadway and r ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(1992–1994) *

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. It was ...

Bypass, London, United Kingdom (1985) *

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major ring road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 th ...

upgrades, UK (1985) *

M20 motorway The M20 is a Controlled-access highway, motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 road (England), A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25 motorway, M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports a ...

upgrades, UK (1986, 1989) * E-18 (Nordic Triangle) route in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

(1995–2001) * A6 extensions in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(1997) *A43 improvements in Maurienne,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(1998) * A8 autobahn, Germany (2000) *N-340 from Cádiz to Barcelona via Málaga,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(2001) * A1 and A2 (east-west) motorways,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

(1990–2004) *Ireland-UK-Benelux Link

Projects of common interest

In addition to specific priority axes and projects, projects of common interest form a common objective, the implementation of which depends on their degree of maturity and the availability of financial resources. Any project is of common interest which fulfils the criteria established in Article 7 of Decision 661/2010/EU.

Details of the road network

Selected TERN projects

Projects of common interest

References

See also