At its plenary session in November 2013, the European Parliament approved the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to the value of EUR 29.3 billion for completion of key European transport, energy and telecommunications links for the seven-year period from 2014 to 2020. At my request, the Commission confirmed that Croatia could count on support in terms of grants from the Cohesion Fund and European Regional Development Fund for the purposes of building the Adriatic‐Ionian corridor from Ploče towards Montenegro, Albania and Greece, including the motorway to Dubrovnik.

Commissioner Kallas stated in his answer that grants for roadworks could be assigned for projects with cross-border sections (including border crossings) in Croatia for the Dubrovnik‐Karasovići section as well as the section connecting Croatia and Montenegro.

Considering the transport isolation of the region and in accordance with the expectations of the population, as the Adriatic‐Ionian corridor is a crucial project for the development of the countries of south-eastern Europe, can the Commission clarify whether Croatia has applied for support from the Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund in building this traffic corridor and what steps it expects from Croatia, considering that this project is known as the jugular vein of this part of Europe?