EC Invites Applicants for Connecting Europe Facility Fund
Image courtesy of the EC
The European Commission has made its second invitation for applications as part of the 2014-20 Connecting Europe Facility, which will make 7.6bn available to co-fund projects to make the EU transport infrastructure better.
Included among the projects are the nine Trans-European corridors, as well as funding for interoperability and ERTMS.
Any of the 28 EU Member States may apply for 1.09bn of this tranche. 6.47bn is earmarked for those 15 countries that qualify for cohesion funding. Candidates must submit their proposals before 16 February, 2016. They will be assessed by May 2016 and confirmed before the end of 2016.
Cross-Border Focus
The funding will back projects which are problematic to execute by reason of cross-border issues or projects which are slow to return on investment. The CEF will put forward up to 50% of the budget of reports for projects on the TEN-T core network. The co-financing agreement will be from 10% for cross-border road schemes to 50% of traffic management systems and 85% in cohesion states.
Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc said:
Efficient, intelligent and sustainable transportation is essential to Europe’s competitiveness. With this new CEF call, we are not only looking for waterway or rail projects; we are aiming at creating jobs and boosting growth. The focus on the cohesion states also reflects our willingness to better interconnect Europe and move towards a deeper internal market, another priority of the Commission.
The Connecting Europe Faculty is a broad project aimed to improve all forms of connectivity between EU Member States. In addition to physical connections, the project also includes broadband and telecoms connectivity to increase growth, jobs and infrastructure.
