EUROPEAN COMMISSION - DAILY NEWS 22/06 (EN)
Brussels, 22 June 2023
EU invests €6.2 billion in sustainable, safe and efficient transport infrastructure
The Commission has selected 107 transport infrastructure projects to receive over €6 billion in EU grants from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU's instrument for strategic investment in transport infrastructure. Over 80% of the funding will support projects that deliver a more efficient, greener, and smarter network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes along the trans-European transport (TEN-T) network. Projects will in addition bolster the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, set up to facilitate Ukraine's exports and imports.
Major cross-border rail connections along the TEN-T core network have been also prioritised for funding. These include notably the Brenner Base tunnel (linking Italy and Austria), Rail Baltica (connecting 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.
Maritime ports in Ireland, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland will receive funding for developing on-shore power supply to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from moored vessels.
To help make inland waterway transport future-proof, infrastructure along the Seine-Scheldt cross-border waterways between France and Belgium will be modernised. Inland ports on the Danube and the Rhine basins, such as Vienna and Andernach, will also receive an upgrade.
To further increase the safety and interoperability of EU rail transport, the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) will be installed on trains and railway lines in Czechia, Denmark, Germany, France, Austria and Slovakia. On roads, several EU Member States will deploy Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS), in particular cooperative ITS (C-ITS) for safer and more efficient transport. Several Member States will get support to European air traffic management projects, with a view to increasing efficiency in air transport and creating a Single European Sky.
Background
The 107 projects have been selected from a total of 353 submitted in response to the call for proposals, published in 2022.
EU funding will take the form of grants, which will be used to co-finance total project costs.
Under the CEF Transport programme for 2021-2027, €25.8 billion is available for grants to co-fund TEN-T projects in the EU Member States. Since 2014, CEF has supported almost 1,300 projects with a total of €29.4 billion in the transport sector (excluding today's proposed selection).
Further financing opportunities are available under CEF Transport, with the 2023 call for Military Mobility currently open until 21 September 2023 and the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility calls open until 7 November 2023. The next CEF Transport calls for proposals will be launched towards the end of September 2023.
For More Information
List of Awarded projects
Q&A on CEF Transport call for proposals 2022 results
Quote(s)
Today, we are allocating €6.2 billion to projects across Europe that will take us closer to completing the Trans-European Network for Transport, TEN-T, the backbone of the EU's economy. I am particularly happy that €250 million will improve cross-border connections between Ukraine, Moldova, and their EU neighbours Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. These projects will make transporting goods between the EU and Ukraine easier, reinforcing the Solidarity Lanes.
Adina Vălean, Commissioner for Transport - 22/06/2023
Commission pays a further €1.5 billion in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine
The Commission has today paid €1.5 billion under the Macro-financial Assistance (MFA)+ package for Ukraine, worth up to €18 billion in total. With this instrument, the EU seeks to help Ukraine cover its immediate funding needs, with stable, predictable and sizeable financial support in 2023.
This support will help Ukraine to continue paying wages and pensions, and keep essential public services running, such as hospitals, schools, and housing for relocated people. It will also allow Ukraine to ensure macroeconomic stability and restore critical infrastructure destroyed by Russia in its war of aggression, such as energy infrastructure, water systems, transport networks, roads and bridges.
Today's payment comes after the Commission found on 23 April that Ukraine continued to make satisfactory progress towards implementing the agreed policy conditions and complied with reporting requirements, which aim to ensure the transparent and efficient use of the funds. Ukraine has notably achieved important progress to strengthen the rule of law, enhance financial stability, improve the functioning of the gas system and promote a better business climate.
President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Europe keeps its word. The disbursement of another €1.5 billion for Ukraine in macro-financial assistance will help Ukraine keeping its services and infrastructure afloat. More will come. We just proposed steady financial support for Ukraine until 2027. Because we are in this for the long haul and we will stand at Ukraine's side in its brave fight for freedom.”
Overall, since the start of the war, the support to Ukraine and Ukrainians amounts to over €70 billion. This includes financial, humanitarian, emergency budget and military support to Ukraine from the EU, Member States and the European financial institutions, as well as resources made available to help Member States cater for needs of Ukrainians fleeing the war. More information is available in this factsheet.
On 20 June, the Commission proposed to set up a dedicated Facility providing coherent, predictable and flexible support to Ukraine for the period 2024-2027, for an overall amount of up to €50 billion.
(For more information: Veerle Nuyts - Tel.: +32 2 299 63 02; Flora Matthaes – Tel.: +32 2 298 39 51)
Commissioner Breton in San Francisco to meet with Tech CEOs and discuss EU digital policy enforcement
Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, is travelling to San Francisco for two days.
On Thursday, 22 June, he will discuss the results of Twitter’s readiness stress test to comply with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) with Executive Chair Elon Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino at the company’s headquarters. They will review the company’s obligations under the DSA which becomes applicable this summer. Later in the day, Commissioner Breton will inaugurate the new EU Office in San Francisco which aims to reinforce its digital diplomacy – in the presence notably of San Francisco mayor London Breed and California Lieutenant-Governor Eleni Kounalakis.
On Friday, 23 June, he will meet with Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, at Menlo Park headquarters to discuss the ‘AI Pact’ and DSA implementation. Commissioner Breton will also meet with Jensen Huang, CEO of NVDIA, in Santa Clara headquarters to engage on the ‘AI Pact’ and EU Chips Act. Finally, the Commissioner will visit the OpenAI headquarters and meet with Sam Altman, CEO of the company, to discuss the EU ‘AI Pact’ ahead of the implementation of the AI Act.
(For more information: Johannes Bahrke – Tel.: +32 2 295 86 15; Marietta Grammenou – Tel.: +32 2 298 35 83)
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Athanasios ATHANASIOU
Press Officer / Political Reporter
European Commission
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