6.7.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L185/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) DECISION No 1346/2001/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 22 May 2001 amending Decision No 1692/96/EC as regards seaports, inland ports and intermodal terminals as well as project No 8 in Annex III THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 156 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (%), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 13 March 2001, Whereas: (1)  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 (°) constitutes a general reference framework covering the objectives, priorities and broad thrust of the measures contemplated as well as the projects of common interest in the area of the trans- European transport network. (2) Interconnection points including seaports, inland ports and intermodal terminals are a pre-condition for the integration of the different transport modes in a multi- modal network. (1) 0] C120,18.4.1998, p. 14. (3 OJ C214,10.7.1998, p. 40. (3) O] C373,2.12.1998, p. 20. () Opinion of the European Parliament of 10 March 1999 (O] C 175, 21.6.1999, p. 110), Council Common Position of 5 June 2000 (O] C 228, 9.8.2000, p. 1) and Decision of the European Parliament of 3 October 2000 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Decision of the European Parliament of 5 April 2001 and Council Decision of 24 April 2001. () OJL228,9.9.1996, p. 1. (3)  Seaports in the trans-European transport network are classified into categories. These are defined on the basis of quantitative criteria or their location in island, peripheral or outermost regions. Only those ports in the highest category by volume of traffic should be shown, by way of indication, on maps. The specifications which a seaport project is to meet to be deemed of common interest should be set out. (4)  The criteria relating to inland ports should be sup- plemented by criteria concerning either the nature of their equipment or the volume of traffic and those ports should be shown, by way of indication, on maps. (5)  The European Council held in Dublin in 1996 decided that project No 8 in the list from the Essen European Council of 1994 should become the Portugal/Spain multimodal link with the rest of Europe. (6)  Decision No 1692/96/EC should therefore be amended accordingly, HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 Decision No 1692/96/EC is hereby amended as follows: 1. Article 11 shall be amended as follows: (a) paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following: ‘3. Inland ports shall form part of the network, in particular as points of interconnection between the waterways referred to in paragraph 2 and Article 14 and other modes of transport.’