EU to Invest €1 Billion in Transport Network

The European Commission is proposing to invest over €1 billion in 39 key projects that will develop sustainable and innovative transport infrastructure in Europe across all modes.

The investment is made via the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU’s financial mechanism supporting infrastructure networks, and will unlock a total of €4.5 billion of public and private co-financing.

According to the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), included in the funding is the development of maritime ports (€78.9 million) and inland waterways (€44.7 million).

The projects include such flagship initiatives as increasing the speed of the railway access line to the Fehmarnbelt tunnel between Denmark and Germany; adapting the most important Belgian inland waterway, the Albert canal, for larger freight transport; as well as improving the capacity of the Port of Gdansk in Poland, reported INEA.

The EU Member States represented in the Connecting Europe Facility Coordination Committee now need to formally approve the proposed funding decision at their meeting on 12 December 2017.

After the adoption of formal Decision by the Commission, the INEA will then prepare and sign grant agreements with the beneficiaries of the individual projects in the first quarter of 2018.