New CEF programme will continue delivering European added value

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) has welcomed the European Commission’s new proposal on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

With a proposed CEF Transport budget of €30.6 billion for the period of 2021-2027, the new CEF programme promises to continue delivering European added value by keeping the focus on improving interoperability and investing in border crossing projects.

CER Executive Director, Libor Lochman, said: “I would like to thank the Commission for their support and recognition of the importance of transport and the success of the CEF so far. This proposal is essential to the continued successful implementation of the TEN-T regulation. However, in spite of the reinforced budget for smart technologies, the proposal does not provide enough robust EU funding for the deployment of ERTMS for the period 2021-2027. An acceleration of investments in interoperable technology enabling the Single European Railway Area is crucial in order to remain competitive on the mobility market.”

The new CEF programme proposes to allocate €14.5 billion, or 60 per cent of its budget, to support the creation of ‘efficient and interconnected networks’ by continuing to implement actions on the core network and, to a lesser extent, on the comprehensive network. This is in line with CER’s position, which calls for continued investment in the existing rail network and for the construction of new infrastructure on the trans-European Transport Network, by focusing on projects of European added value and multimodal connecting points.

The remaining 40 per cent of CEF Transport budget (€9.6 billion) will be allocated to ‘smart, sustainable, inclusive, safe and secure mobility’, including investment in digitalisation and European traffic management systems, as well as actions supporting rail freight services.

The proposed budget includes an allocation of €6.5 billion from the security and defence budget for the support of Military Mobility. CER has welcomed this opportunity to co-fund transport infrastructure for dual civilian-military uses.