THE European Commission (EC) has announced its proposed 2028-34 budget for the European Union (EU), containing a significantly increased allocation for the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the main instrument for funding rail infrastructure projects.
Under the draft Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-34, CEF has been allocated €81.4bn to fund transport and energy projects. This is a 215% increase on the €25·8bn available to co-fund transport projects in the CEF transport programme for 2021-27.
The EC says that this increased provision will finance the completion of Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). It will also have key role in providing cross-border infrastructure for both civilian and military use, contributing to the implementation of the Military Mobility Action Plan.
Military mobility has been allocated €18bn within the CEF for 2028-34, which the EC says is almost 10 times greater than the amount provided under the current MFF.
The MFF for 2028-34 also contains a new European Competitiveness Fund worth €409bn which will invest in strategic technology, focusing on four areas that include decarbonisation and the digital transition. The EC says that by providing a single gateway for applicants, the new fund will simplify and accelerate EU funding, maximising the impact of “every euro spent” by drawing in private funding.
Industry reaction
The increased provision for rail in the MFF was welcomed by Enno Wiebe, director general of European Rail Supply Industry Association (Unife). “Policymakers need to be applauded and celebrated in how they made an emphatic call in keeping, and then strengthening, CEF,” he says.
“This EU budgetary framework has the right architecture and we are glad to see efforts to simplify and improve access to finance,” he says. “The new CEF should be built on a solid governance, budget and structure as the main source for military mobility funding, both for infrastructure and transport assets.”
At the same time, Wiebe says that Europe must ensure that funding is available to deploy ERTMS.
Unife has also welcomed the reinforced budget of €175bn for the Horizon Europe research and development funding programme. According to Wiebe, this will enable work to begin to ensure that the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (ERJU) has a successor.
Industry lobbying ahead of the publication of the draft MFF included a call for urban and regional public transport to be given top priority. This was made by 70 CEOs and leaders of public transport authorities, operators, industry and national associations from across Europe, coordinated by the International Union of Public Transport (UITP).
They pointed out that public transport contributes between €130bn and €150bn a year to the economy of the EU, and that “every euro invested generates a five-to-one economic return.”
