• Objective

The EU budget is crucial to translate the political priorities of the EU Members States into concrete programmes and activities. The European Union usually forecasts its budget for periods of five years under the so-called “Multiannual Financial Framework” (MFF). The current MFF is due to end in 2020. The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is part of the MFF and especially relevant for Infrastructure Managers (IMs), as it finances transport projects across Europe and provides the financial lifeline for the completion of the TEN-T Network. The European Commission has proposed a budget of €42.3 bn for CEF (2021-2027). It includes €30.6 bn for transport. 60% of the CEF budget will contribute to climate objectives in line with the EU’s commitments under the Paris Agreement. Military mobility, which is part of the Connecting Europe Facility, will finance dual-use infrastructure projects on the TEN-T Network and IMs are at the forefront of the discussions.

• Involvement of Infrastructure Managers

Within the MFF, the CEF is of particular relevance for Infrastructure Managers (IMs) as they actively participate in many cross-border projects. CEF allows IMs to further develop high-quality inland transport infrastructure with seamless border-crossings and multimodal connections (e.g. ports and airports). IMs also benefit from the synergies between CEF Transport and other relevant initiatives such as CEF Energy and CEF Digital, which provide financial support for the promotion of European-wide interoperable systems and services, as well as digitalisation and innovative solutions.

• EIM in action

EIM advocates increased EU funding for rail infrastructure projects focusing on upgrades and renewals of existing rail infrastructure and the finalisation of major projects across the TEN-T Network;

EIM regularly publishes position papers on the EU budget and gives feedback to a number of public consultations concerning the transport budget;

EIM also calls for financial support for the digitalisation of rail operations, in particular the deployment of ERTMS and the continuation of Shift2Rail.

Opportunities

• Significant budget allocated to transport investments contributes to the completion of the TEN-T Network

Challenges

• Financial resources for transport may be transferred to other programmes;
• Blending schemes (public grants combined with private investments) are not suitable for some infrastructure projects.