Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport

The Connecting Europe Facility – Transport (CEF-T) is the funding instrument to realise the trans-European transport networks (TEN-T) policy. It aims at supporting investments in building new transport infrastructure and rehabilitating or upgrading the existing one. CEF-T also focuses on cross-border projects and projects aiming to remove bottlenecks or bridge missing links in various sections of the Core and Comprehensive Networks, and on horizontal priorities such as traffic management systems. Likewise, CEF-T supports innovation in the transport system to improve the use of infrastructure, reduce environmental impacts, enhance energy efficiency and increase safety.

CEF Transport will dedicate at least 60% of its budget to EU climate objectives. The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) is the successor of the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency and is managing the technical and financial implementation of CEF. Across the last years, CEF-Transport has allocated more than 60% of the funding to infrastructural works in advanced stages of implementation, while around 10% of the funding went to studies and conceptual projects.

CEF co-financing is usually set at a maximum of 30% of the total eligible cost. This may be increased to 50% for studies, actions of greater priority, and civilian-defence dual-use projects. For those projects that enjoy a financial transfer from the Cohesion Fund, the co-financing rate may go up to 85% of the total eligible costs.

70% of the CEF budget will be allocated in 2021-2023 through 3 calls for proposals of 5.5 billion each, in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Under the most recent Call for Proposals 2021, CEF has featured a €1.57bn worth of co-financing under a new thematic envelope – the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF). The key objective of AFIF is to support a further roll-out of electricity fast-charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure across the TEN-T network, including on the urban nodes. Moreover, CEF-T will contribute to seamless connections between transport modes in TEN-T urban nodes by supporting the improvement of multimodal passenger hubs. The CEF Regulation requires a budgetary spending division whereby 60% is provided for investments in hard infrastructure and 40% is provided for the realisation of horizontal priorities, including innovation, alternative fuels, intelligent transport systems, or digitisation.

As of March 2021, the co-financing for asset (clean vehicles) procurement is excluded from the CEF Blending Facility, which now zeros in on deploying of alternative fuel infrastructures as well as on multimodal mobility hubs across the urban nodes network. Given CEF’s complementary character for urban mobility financing, the asset procurement component will mainly be addressed through RRF and ESIFs.

USEFUL RESOURCES:

• Connecting Europe Facility Transport – Call for proposals
• CEF – How to apply

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