European countries can count on 33.71 billion euros to be spent from 2021 to 2027 to finance the development of sustainable and highly efficient transport, digital and energy infrastructures. It is the Connecting Europe facility 2.0 (CEF 2.0), an investment programme approved two days ago by the European Council, now awaited by the vote of the European Parliament before becoming effective.
The allocations for each sector will be as follows:
- transport: 25.81 billion euros (of which 11.29 billion euros for countries recipient of cohesion funds)
- energy: 5.84 billion euros
- digital: 2.07 billion euros
In the transport sector, the programme will promote interconnected and multimodal networks with a view to developing and modernising rail, road, maritime and inland waterway infrastructure and ensuring safe and secure mobility.
In the energy sector, CEF 2.0 aims to contribute to the further integration of the European energy market by improving cross-border and cross-sectoral interoperability of energy networks, facilitating decarbonisation and ensuring security of supply. Funding will also be available for cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy production.
In the area of digital connectivity, the scope of the programme has been extended to take account of the fact that the digital transformation of the economy and society in general depends on universal access to reliable and affordable high and very high-capacity networks. Digital connectivity is also seen as a decisive factor in bridging economic, social and territorial gaps.
The CEF 2.0 programme highlights synergies between the transport, energy and digital sectors as a way of making EU intervention more effective and optimising implementation costs. It will promote cross-sectoral work in areas such as interconnected and automated mobility and alternative fuels.
The programme also aims to complement climate action, taking into account the EU’s long-term decarbonisation commitments, such as the Paris Agreement.
After final adoption by the European Parliament, Cef 2.0 shall apply retroactively from 1 January 2021.