The European Commission has selected 107 transport infrastructure projects to receive over €6 billion in EU grants from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU's instrument for strategic investment in transport infrastructure. Over 80% of the funding will support projects that deliver a more efficient, greener, and smarter network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes along the trans-European transport (TEN-T) network. Projects will in addition bolster the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, set up to facilitate Ukraine's exports and imports.
Major cross-border rail connections along the TEN-T core network have been also prioritised for funding. These include notably the Brenner Base tunnel (linking Italy and Austria), Rail Baltica (connecting the three Baltic States and Poland with the rest of Europe), as well as the cross-border section between Germany and the Netherlands (Emmerich–Oberhausen), among others.
Maritime ports in Ireland, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland will be upgraded with basic infrastructure to develop a wide network for short sea shipping routes within the EU and equipped with on-shore power supply to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from moored vessels.
Ireland will benefit from an investment in projects totalling over €10million. These projects include Port infrastructure in Rosslare, railway connectivity and expansion across Ireland and a Cork Dockland rejuvenation project.
Further across Europe, to help make inland waterway transport future-proof, infrastructure along the Seine-Scheldt cross-border waterways between France and Belgium will be modernised. Inland ports on the Danube and the Rhine basins, such as Vienna and Andernach, will also receive an upgrade.
To further increase the safety and interoperability of EU rail transport, the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) will be installed on trains and railway lines in Czechia, Denmark, Germany, France, Austria and Slovakia. On roads, several EU Member States will deploy Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS), in particular cooperative ITS (C-ITS) for safer and more efficient transport. Several Member States will get support to European air traffic management projects, with a view to increasing efficiency in air transport and creating a Single European Sky.
Acting Director of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), Paloma Aba Garrote: “By supporting a smart and sustainable transportation system, the European Union delivers on its commitment to improving the future of its citizens. With these new 107 selected projects, spanning various transport modes, we reach almost EUR 29.4 billion of EU support invested since 2014 in projects implementing the EU Green Deal. The selected projects will deliver results contributing to shape a carbon-neutral continent."
Background
The 107 projects have been selected from a total of 353 submitted in response to the call for proposals, published in 2022.
EU funding will take the form of grants, which will be used to co-finance total project costs.
Under the CEF Transport programme for 2021-2027, €25.8 billion is available for grants to co-fund TEN-T projects in the EU Member States. Since 2014, CEF has supported almost 1,300 projects with a total of €29.4 billion in the transport sector (excluding today's proposed selection).
Further financing opportunities are available under CEF Transport, with the 2023 call for Military Mobility currently open until 21 September 2023 and the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility calls open until 7 November 2023. The next CEF Transport calls for proposals will be launched towards the end of September 2023.
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