Transport infrastructure: the Connecting Europe Facility and the Trans-European Transport Network

Key messages

A well-functioning and EU-wide transport infrastructure network is important to connect European regions and for the proper functioning of the EU’s internal market. To this end the timely completion of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is vital for Europe’s transport infrastructure network to cope with the expected increase in demand for transport services over the coming decades.
The renewal for the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) beyond 2020 for the period 2021-2027 is therefore most welcome. However, considering the estimated heavy financial needs for achieving its objectives the budget allocated to transport infrastructure should be more ambitious.
Public-private partnerships should play an increasingly important role in this regard as they can enable a faster and more flexible delivery of transport projects. Furthermore, emphasis of the CEF beyond 2020 should remain on projects with highest EU added value such as cross-border connections, missing links, and bottlenecks.
The Commission’s initiative to streamline national procedures for implementing projects of common interest on the core network of the TEN-T will reduce delays encountered during the implementation of TEN-T infrastructure projects. Public funds will more effectively reach the market and the participation of private investment will be facilitated.