16/04/2019 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission decided on Tuesday 16 April to extend the mandate of Dirk Beckers, the current Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) Director, for a period of five years from 1 May. This entity replaced the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T) in 2014 (see EUROPE 11005/16) and Mr Beckers has been its head since then. INEA manages several European Union programmes related to transport, energy and telecommunications, such as the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The architecture of the latter programme for the period 2021-2027 was the subject of a partial provisional interinstitutional agreement on 8 March between representatives of the European Parliament and the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12210/5). This partial provisional agreement will be formally validated by MEPs meeting in plenary session on Wednesday 17 April. (LT)