19/03/2019 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday, 19 March, the Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions (CPMR) welcomed the provisional political agreement reached earlier this month between the European Parliament and the EU Council on the post-2020 Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) (see EUROPE 12210/5). Nevertheless, the CPMR regretted that the agreement did not “fully” recognise the importance of maritime transport in the future CEF, given the European Parliament’s position aiming to increase the intensity of European aid to maritime projects was rejected, the organisation explained. “However, it comes as a real surprise that no place is given to maritime transport, which is of crucial importance as a link between the territories and a gateway to the world. I see this mixed result as an invitation to take forward our efforts with a new focus on the revision of the TEN-T Regulation”, said Erik Bergkvist, Vice-President of the CPMR. (PH)