All you need to know about CEF 2: funding to boost the Trans-European Transport Network

How is the Connecting Europe Facility funded?

Funds come from three financing lines:

• CEF Transport General Package
• Cohesion fund package assigned to CEF Transport
• Military Mobility package

The co-financing ratios are similar to previous calls. In the case of the general package, it reaches a financing of 50% for studies, 30% for works. In the latter case, 50% in the case of cross-border works, telematic applications, inland navigation, railway interoperability, new technologies and innovation, improvements in the security of infrastructures and adaptation of external borders, and up to 70% for projects located in the outermost regions of the Union.

In the case of the cohesion fund package, up to 85% will be allocated for studies and works. In the case of the military mobility package, up to 50% for studies and works. Regarding cross-border actions, the financing percentage can be increased by 5% if a joint venture is created to manage the project.

The first call for projects

On September 16, the first major call for projects included in this new financial framework was launched, endowed with 7,000 million euros. In relation to the previous priorities, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), the agency that will manage these funds to replace INEA, has published 77 different topics to apply. The call ends on January 19, 2022.

These 7,000 million euros are distributed as follows:

• 5,175 million euros to finance infrastructure projects in the trans-European transport network, both in the basic and global network. It includes railways, inland waterways, sea and river ports, highways, rail-road intermodal terminals, multimodal logistics platforms, and passenger hubs. In addition, applications for intelligent and interoperable transport, safe mobility and resilient infrastructures are included as themes.
• 1,575 million euros will be used to finance new alternative fuel supply infrastructures.
• 330 million euros will go towards adapting the TEN-T to dual civil and military use.

Regarding the presentation of proposals, there are some relevant changes to take into account compared to the model used in CEF 1. This is mainly due to the integration of the Connecting Europe Mechanism programs with the rest of the programs managed by CINEA (Horizon Europe, LIFE, etc.).

The system for submitting proposals is the Funding & Tenders Portal, the electronic portal of the European Commission, which will also be the one-stop shop for the entire grant management process. It replaces the TENtec, from CEF itself, used until now.

These are some of the most relevant differences in relation to the presentation of proposals from CEF 1 to CEF 2 (those related to the management of the grant once it has been awarded are not mentioned):

• The work programs will be structured around themes currently called priorities. The distinction between studies and work will be made at the thematic level, in the same way that the distinction will be made between actions that affect the basic network (core network) or the general network (comprehensive network) or the application of funds to the general call or to cohesion funds.
• The cost structure to be presented in the different activities will be similar to that of Horizon Europe. Different categories of costs are foreseen: personnel, subcontracting, purchasing (travel and subsistence, equipment, other goods, works and services), indirect costs arising during the grant, and others.

It should be remembered that in CEF1 only the cost associated with each activity and beneficiary had to be indicated, but it was not necessary to include the associated cost structure. However, budget changes between the different cost categories will be allowed without an amendment to the grant agreement, provided that this does not imply any substantial change in the description of the proposal.

In previous calls, the approval of projects by Member States was mandatory. In the new calls, each state can decide for certain topics or programs whether or not their approval is necessary.

Now it only remains to see which projects will be chosen to benefit from those 33,710 million euros. The CEF Mechanism 2 is underway. And with it a profound transformation of European communications as we have conceived them up to now.