In a report published on Friday 11 July, the think-tank Transport & Environment recommended increasing the rail budget of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) in order to modernise Europe’s cross-border corridors.
While the European Commission is currently considering whether to maintain the CEF in the next budget, T&E believes that it is essential to extend its use to achieve true rail interconnectivity across Europe, as it is the only financial instrument dedicated to cross-border connections (see EUROPE 13662/7). A 25% increase in the CEF budget for rail could almost double the funds available for the improvements needed to implement the trans-European transport network (TEN-T).
Indeed, the think-tank considered that new flagship rail mega-projects with limited European added value should not benefit from CEF funding (see EUROPE 13673/19). Of the €15.5 billion earmarked for rail between 2021 and 2023, almost half has been allocated to just seven mega-projects. In its view, the EU should continue to invest in transformative projects, but not at the expense of the more general improvements needed to achieve interoperability on all corridors.
On the other hand, only €0.7 billion has been allocated to the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), while full implementation could cost tens of billions. T&E has therefore called for an increase in CEF funding for these projects.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/hut (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)