Agreement on Connecting Europe facility (CEF) reached

The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the second edition of the EU's flagship programme the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). CEF 2 will continue to fund key projects in the areas of transport, digital and energy. It will run from 2021 to 2027, with a significant overall budget of €33.71 billion.

The budgets for each sector will be:

• transport: €25.81 billion (including €11.29 billion for cohesion countries)
• energy: €5.84 billion
• digital: €2.06 billion

Transport
The CEF Transport part of the programme will strongly promote the idea of shifting from a patchwork of national networks to a truly interconnected one by supporting the development and modernisation of railway, road, inland waterway and maritime infrastructure, as well as promoting safe and secure mobility. Priority will be given to further development of the trans-European transport networks (TEN-T), focusing on missing links and cross-border projects with an EU added value. €1.56 billion of the transport budget will finance major rail projects between cohesion countries and €1.69 billion will be devoted to ensuring that when infrastructure is adapted to improve military mobility within the EU, it is dual-use compatible, meeting both civilian and military needs.

Energy
In the energy sector, the programme aims to contribute to further integration of the European energy market, improving the interoperability of energy networks across borders and sectors, facilitating decarbonisation, and ensuring security of supply. Funding will also be available for cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy generation. When defining award criteria, consistency with EU and national energy and climate plans, including the principle of 'energy efficiency first', will be taken into account.

The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) will manage both these parts of the CEF programme, whilst a new executive agency, the Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) will take care of the digital part of CEF, worth around €2 billion.