Brussels, 11/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 July, member states' ambassadors to the EU endorsed the compromise reached in the institutional trialogue on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) on 27 June (see EUROPE 10876). This financial instrument will be utilised in the next financial programming for investments in transport, energy and communications infrastructure. It will also be used to help complete a network that produces added European value. Cross-border projects and projects which tackle bottlenecks are the focus for this facility. Around €30 billion has so far been planned for transport infrastructure (including €10 billion from cohesion funds), €23 billion for energy infrastructures and €5 billon for telecommunications.
The compromises reached between the institutions establish that a maximum of 10% of the CEF will be made available to innovative financial instruments, such as project bonds. More specifically, in the transport field, the project for managing traffic control (SESAR) will benefit from funding, similarly to other specific projects in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), including facilitating the introduction of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). In the energy arena, priority will be placed on ending energy isolation, bottlenecks and completing the single market. Emphasis will also be put on developing synergies between different sector projects, with at least a call for tender for multi-sector projects. The European Parliament will still have to approve this agreement after the summer break. It will then be up to the Council to conclude negotiating procedures by giving its final approval. (MD/transl.fl)