Challenges of physical and digital integration TEN-T networks in Southeast European countries

Abstract

This paper analyzes the problems of digital and physical integration of the road infrastructure Trans-European Networks Transport (TEN-T) in Southeast Europe and the challenges in its implementation. The specificity of the TEN-T network in Southeast Europe is that it connects EU member states (Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece) and Western Balkans countries that are not members of the EU (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania). The EU member states of Southeast Europe have completed the physical connection of the road infrastructure of the TEN-T network and are implementing the digitization of transport processes by developing intelligent transport systems (ITS) based on a single European framework ITS architecture by implementing the EU Directives and the ITS development action plan. The challenges of physical and digital integration of the TEN-T network of Southeast Europe are reflected in the digital connection of the transport systems of EU member states that have implemented a large number of ITS services based on the European FRAME ITS architecture and the European regulatory framework and standards for the development of ITS with the transport systems of countries of the Western Balkans, which are in the initial phase of ITS development and do not have a regulatory and technical framework for the implementation of ITS harmonized with the EU. The integration of isolated ITS services on the TEN-T network of the Western Balkan countries into a single national ITS system will bring new challenges in terms of their physical and logical upgrading and their harmonization with the regulatory framework and technical standards of the EU. The countries of the Western Balkans face the challenges of developing national ITS architectures, which should be based on the European FRAME ITS architecture to achieve interoperability of ITS services and enable access to the European market of ITS services and equipment. This paper aims to look at the challenges of physical and digital integration of the TEN-T network of South-Eastern European countries and to propose a possible scenario for solving them.