The European Commission announced, on Thursday 22 June, that it had selected 107 transport infrastructure projects to receive €6 .2 billion in EU grants from the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF).
Over 80% of the funding will support projects that deliver a more efficient, greener, and smarter network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes along the trans-European transport (TEN-T).
“I am particularly happy that €250 million will improve cross-border connections between Ukraine, Moldova (see EUROPE 13178/28) and their EU neighbours, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland”, said Adina Vălean, the Commissioner for Transport, in a press release. “These projects will make transporting goods between the EU and Ukraine easier, reinforcing the Solidarity Lanes”, she added (see EUROPE 13195/4).
Major cross-border rail links along the TEN-T core network have also been prioritised for funding. These include the Brenner base tunnel linking Italy and Austria, Rail Baltica linking the three Baltic States and Poland with the rest of Europe, and the cross-border section between Germany and the Netherlands. The safety and interoperability of European rail transport will also be enhanced by the installation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) on certain trains and railway lines.
Maritime ports in Ireland, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland will receive funding for developing on-shore power supply to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from moored vessels.
Infrastructure along the Seine-Scheldt cross-border waterways between France and Belgium will be modernised, as will inland ports in the Danube and Rhine basins. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)