6.2 billion euros, European funds for sustainable transport infrastructures

The European Commission has selected 107 transport infrastructure projects that will benefit from EU grants totaling more than 6 billion euros from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU instrument for strategic investments in transport infrastructure, according to the announcement made last month by Brussels officials.

According to them, more than 80% of the funding will support projects that ensure a more efficient, greener and smarter network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). In addition, the projects will strengthen the EU-Ukraine solidarity corridors, established to facilitate Ukraine's exports and imports.

The main cross-border rail connections along the TEN-T core network were also prioritized for funding. Among them are especially the Brenner base tunnel (which connects Italy and Austria), Rail Baltica (which connects the three Baltic states and Poland with the rest of Europe), as well as the cross-border section between Germany and the Netherlands (Emmerich-Oberhausen), among others.

Seaports in Ireland, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland will receive funding to develop shore-based power supply to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships at anchor.

To help adapt inland waterway transport to future demands, the infrastructure along the Seine-Scheldt cross-border waterways between France and Belgium will be modernised. The inland ports on the Danube and in the Rhine basins, such as Vienna and Andernach, will also benefit from modernization.

To further increase the safety and interoperability of rail transport in the EU, the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) will be installed on trains and railway lines in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Austria and Slovakia. On the roads, several EU member states will implement intelligent transport systems and services (ITS), especially cooperative ITS (C-ITS) for safer and more efficient transport. Several member states will receive support for European air traffic management projects, in order to increase the efficiency of air transport and create a single European sky.

• EU funds - grants used to co-finance the total costs of the projects

The 107 projects were selected by the European Commission from a total of 353 submitted in response to the call for proposals, published in 2022. EU funding will take the form of grants that will be used to co-finance the total costs of the projects.

Within the MIE - Transport program for the period 2021-2027, 25.8 billion euros are available for grants intended to co-finance TEN-T projects in EU member states. Since 2014, the CEF has supported almost 1,300 projects with a total of 29.4 billion euros in the transport sector (excluding the selection proposed in June).

Other funding opportunities are available under the Transport CEF, with the 2023 call for proposals for military mobility currently open until 21 September 2023, and calls for proposals under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility open until 7 November 2023. The following requests for proposals within the MIE - Transport will be launched towards the end of September 2023.

(Article taken from the magazine BURSA Construcţiior)