The establishment of an 'inter-ministerial committee' is intended "to speed up the implementation of the Rail Baltica project. Its purpose is to facilitate the coordinated resolution of cross-sectoral issues of the Rail Baltica project," according to a government press release.
"When I assumed the position of the Minister of Transport, one of the most unpleasant surprises was the identified shortcomings in the management of the Rail Baltica project and in the regulatory acts, which resulted in significant delays in the implementation of the project. Considering that the implementation of the project affects the competencies of several other ministries and institutions, I have initiated the creation of an inter-ministerial committee. All involved parties must be clearly aware that the "Rail Baltica" railway line is the largest infrastructure project in the Baltics of our generation and it is our joint responsibility both towards future generations and national security as a whole," said Minister of Transport Jānis Vitenbergs.
The proposal for the inter-ministerial committee envisages the creation of a two-tier council, which will consist of a Project Council and a Working Group, with the Working Group responsible for "the preparation of the decisions of the Project Council and the coordination of task execution".
The tasks to be performed by the Project Council will be "cross-sectoral issues, changes to the necessary regulatory acts, as well as the development of the national position on issues related to the Rail Baltica project, which can be resolved at the cross-sectoral, intergovernmental or European Commission level."
The Project Council will be formed by the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance.
The Working Group will include representatives of various institutions, depending on the content of the issue under consideration, including the active involvement of VAS "Latvijas valsts meži", VAS "Latvijas Valsts ceļi", related municipalities and the Union of Latvian Municipalities.
The inter-ministerial committee will be established by order of the Cabinet of Ministers.
