On Wednesday 15 June, members of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee (TRAN) attended the European Commission’s presentation of the first review of calls for transport projects under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Calling for a total budget of €25.8 billion for the period 2021-2027, some 103 projects have so far been selected from the overall envelope, and 32 from the cohesion envelope.
Following the European Commission’s intervention, several MEPs stressed the importance of the rail sector in developing more sustainable mobility in future projects.
“Lines continue to close. What can be done to encourage the reopening of these closed or decommissioned lines, which have suffered greatly in recent years? Perhaps we could allocate the budget better”, said Ciarán Cuffe (Greens/EFA, Ireland).
For others, such as Marian-Jean Marinescu (EPP, Romania), the issue of rail transport, in the framework of the CEF, should also be raised through the prism of the modernisation of existing infrastructure, while for the chair of the TRAN Committee, Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France), questions about ticket prices must be answered.
“We need to avoid not only rising temperatures, but also rising bills. It's going to be a real battle. The train is too expensive. We have to deal with the mobility of citizens in their daily lives. We need to direct investments in an intelligent way to respond to social and climate emergencies and then prepare for the future “, she said.
In addition, some MEPs, such as Dominique Riquet (Renew Europe, France), insisted on “the inadequacy between the amount of the fund and the tasks assigned to it”.
“There are new challenges, an extension to third countries showing that we need to go further, to countries such as Ukraine, and difficulties in terms of military mobility when this subject has become topical. The needs have only increased”, he said. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)