Connecting Europe Facility 2.0 (CEF 2.0)

The general objectives of the CEF 2.0 are to build, develop, modernise, and complete the trans-European networks in the transport, energy, and digital sectors. It also facilitates cross-border cooperation in the field of renewable energy, considering the long-term decarbonisation commitments and the goals of increasing European competitiveness. The programme facilitates synergies among the transport, energy, and digital sectors. The adopted regulation (EU) 2021/1153 on CEF 2.0 may be accessed here.

EU Budget

The total EU-wide CEF budget for the period starting from 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2027 is €33,710,000,000 (in current prices). This includes in part the transport sector:

Transport: €25,807,000,000 (incl. €11,286,000,000 for cohesion countries).

The Connecting Europe Facility for Transport is a funding instrument that supports projects aimed at building new transport infrastructure in Europe or rehabilitating and upgrading the existing ones. The specific objectives of the CEF in the transport sector are (a) to contribute to the development of projects of common interest relating to efficient, interconnected, and multimodal networks and infrastructure for smart, interoperable, sustainable, inclusive, accessible, safe, and secure mobility in accordance with the objectives of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 (b) to adapt parts of the TEN-T for the dual use of the transport infrastructure with a view to improving  both civilian and military mobility. Further information on the Connecting Europe Facility – Transport may be found on the CINEA website.

CINEA

The CEF 2.0 programme shall be managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), which was established on 1st April 2021. For further information about CINEA you may access this link.

CINEA Public Dashboard

On 30 January 2023, CINEA launched a new Public Dashboard which provides a comprehensive overview of the portfolio of programmes and projects it manages on behalf of EC. The dashboard aims to communicate publicly real-time info on the programmes and projects managed by CINEA in an easy, transparent, flexible, and user-friendly manner. It includes direct access to the project fact-sheets. The dashboard includes filter options to delve deeper into specific areas that aim to demonstrate the implementation of different projects across programmes.

There are tailored data visualisations that allow users to identify in real time how much funding and how many projects/participants benefit from support from various EU funding programmes, including Connecting Europe Facility (CEF): Transport and Energy. CEF contributes to the monitoring and reporting objectives as provided under Article 22(4) of the CEF Regulation. CINEA issued a communication campaign which is available on the website and DG MOVE’s.

CEF Transport call for proposals

Open Calls

Opening date:

29^th February 2024

Deadline dates:

24 Sep 2024, 17:00 / 11 Jun 2025, 17:00 / 17 Dec 2025, 17:00 (CET)

Details:

The objective of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) call for proposal is to support the deployment of alternative fuels supply infrastructure, contributing to decarbonising transport along the TEN-T network. EUR 1 billion is available under this call: EUR 780 million under the General envelope and EUR 220 million under the Cohesion envelope.

This second phase of AFIF (2024-2025) will support the objectives set in the new Regulation for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR) regarding publicly accessible electric recharging pools and hydrogen refuelling stations across the European Union’s main transport corridors and hubs, as well as the objectives set in the ReFuelEU aviation and the FuelEU maritime Regulations.

This call for proposals covers the roll-out of alternative fuels infrastructure for road, maritime, inland waterway and air transport. In addition to the support to high power electricity recharging stations and hydrogen refuelling stations, the following new funding opportunities will be available:

• Support to Megawatt recharging stations for Heavy Duty Vehicles
• Support to electricity and hydrogen supply at airports
• Support to electricity supply and ammonia and methanol bunkering facilities in ports

AFIF supports mature investment projects having received a financing approval letter from an Implementing Partner or from a public or private financial institution established in the EU. AFIF will be implemented through a rolling call for proposals, with three cut-off dates for the submission of proposals until the end of 2025. Applicants can submit their proposals before any of the three cut-off dates.

Click Here to Apply

Member State’s Approval

It is to be noted that all project submissions require the Member State’s approval. In the case of Malta, the signatory is the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects (MTIP). The full and complete application form is to be submitted to MTIP by no later than 3 weeks prior to the deadline of submission of the project by CINEA. MTIP may request further clarifications and/or request meetings with the project’s applicant. 

CEF Transport National Contact Point: Mr Dennis Calleja, MTIP Director (Operations) 

Contact: [email protected]

NB: MTIP may not be in position to provide Member State’s approval if the application form is not fully provided and completed on time.

2025 CEF Transport call results 
The European Commission selected 94 transport projects to receive nearly €2.8 billion in EU grants under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) with the aim of boosting sustainable and connected mobility across Europe. The projects will help better connect European regions and cities by modernising maritime routes, railways and inland waterways across the TEN-T network. The projects will also make the EU’s internal market more competitive and resilient. The EU is investing in a range of projects to reduce the environmental impact of maritime and inland waterway transport including upgrading ports in Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, Croatia, and Poland with shore-side electricity to reduce emissions from ships at berth.

Since its launch in 2014, the Connecting Europe Facility supported 1861 projects, including the current selection of 94 projects, with a total of €47.34 billion in the transport sector. Further information and the list of selected projects is found in the CINEA website.

EU invests €7 billion under CEF Transport
The European Commission has selected 134 transport projects to receive over €7 billion in EU grants from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU’s instrument for strategic investment in infrastructure. This represents the largest call under the current CEF Transport programme. The 134 projects have been selected from a total of 408 applications submitted under this call for proposals, which closed on 18 January 2024.

EU funding will take the form of grants, which will be used to co-finance total project costs. €25.8 billion are available for grants to co-fund TEN-T projects in the Member States under the CEF Transport programme for 2021-2027. Since 2014, CEF has supported over 1,500 projects with €37.5 billion in the transport sector (excluding projects selected today).

Around 83% of the funding will support projects that deliver on the EU’s climate objectives, improving and modernising the EU network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes along the trans-European transport (TEN-T) network. Around 20 maritime ports in Ireland, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Malta, Lithuania, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, and Poland will receive support for infrastructure upgrades, some of which will enable them to supply shore-side electricity to ships, or transport renewable energy. For road transport, launching cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS) and creating new, safe and secure parking areas will increase safety for individuals and professionals.

More information and the list of selected projects is found on the CINEA website.

CEF AFIF first call results announced

CINEA has announced that 42 projects have been selected to receive in total EUR 424 million of EU grant support under the fifth and last selection round of the first AFIF call for proposals for which the submission deadline was 7 November 2023. This funding is coupled with financing from major financial institutions to achieve a higher impact of the EU grants

AFIF will now support around 4,200 electric recharging points along the European TEN-T road network, 48 hydrogen refuelling stations for cars, trucks and buses and the electrification of ground handling services in 21 airports. More information can be found in this link

A new AFIF call for applications is currently open for which the first submission deadline is 24 September 2024.

Closed Calls

2023 CEF Transport Calls for proposals

The 2023 CEF Transport calls for proposals opened on 26^th September 2023 and closed on 30^th January 2024. The calls made EUR 7 billion available for projects targeting new and improved European transport infrastructure. Projects funded under these calls help to increase the sustainability of the trans-European transport network, putting the EU on track to meet the European Green Deal objective of cutting transport emissions by 90% by 2050.

The calls support the European Commission’s vision of a future sustainable transport system, with smart and resilient solutions implemented to interconnect Europe. The calls covered the Core and Comprehensive TEN-T networks in the following areas: 

• railways
• inland waterways
• maritime and inland ports
• road safety
• rail-road terminals 
• multimodal logistics platforms
• multimodal passenger hubs
• smart and interoperable applications for transport 
• safe and secure mobility
• infrastructure resilience 

Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility

A rolling call with multiple cut off dates has been launched on 16th September 2021. The objective is to support the deployment of Alternative Fuel supply infrastructure, contributing to decarbonising transport along the TEN-T network. The following Actions will be supported.

• Actions supporting the roll-out of electricity fast-charging infrastructure of a minimum power output of 150kW, including electricity grid connexion, on the TEN-T road network
• Actions supporting LNG bunkering for TEN-T maritime and inland ports
• Actions supporting the roll-out of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure on the TEN-T road network and in urban nodes, with priority to long haul heavy-duty transport and public transport
• Actions supporting the roll-out of hydrogen refuelling and electricity recharging infrastructure dedicated to and heavy-duty vehicles
• Actions supporting the deployment of alternative fuels for TEN-T maritime ports, inland waterways, and inland ports, and airports

A virtual information day was held on 14th October 2021. You may access the recorded session by clicking here. To access the calls below please access the link here. All cut-off dates close at 5:00 pm Malta time. The cut-off dates are:

– Fourth cut-off date: 13th April 2023

– Fifth and last cut-off date: 7th November 2023

For further information please consult the AFIF Factsheet

The Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital projects, in collaboration with Business First and Ministry for Energy, Environment and Enterprise organised a Business Breakfast as an info session to promote the AFIF in Malta. Private and public entities were invited to learn about the funding opportunities available. This was a closed event, by registration. 

• Recording of the meeting – Part 1
• Recording of the meeting – Part 2
• Agenda and Brief
• Presentation 1
• Presentation 2
• Presentation 3

2022 CEF Transport call for proposals

The 2022 CEF Transport call for proposals under CEF was opened on 13 September 2022 and closed on 18 January 2023. The call made 5.12 billion euros available for projects targeting new upgraded and improved European transport infrastructure. Projects funded under this call help to increase the sustainability of the transport network, putting the EU on track to meet the European Green Deal objective of cutting transport emissions by 90% by 2050. The indicative total budget of the call is to support infrastructure projects on the Core and Comprehensive TEN-T networks in the following areas: 

• inland waterways, maritime and inland ports
• road safety, multimodal logistics platforms and passenger hubs
• smart and interoperable applications for transport
• infrastructure resilience, safe and secure mobility.

2021 CEF Transport call for proposals

On 16 September 2021, CINEA launched a call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport funding instrument, which makes €7 billion available for projects aiming to build, upgrade and improve European transport infrastructure. These include the General envelope, Cohesion envelope, Military Mobility and Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF). The call’s deadline was on 19 January 2022.

Selection Results

On response to calls for proposals issued under CEF Transport in September 2021, 135 transport infrastructure projects were selected under CEF Transport, with an EU-wide budget of 5,400,000,000 euros. The projects were selected from amongst the 399 submitted proposals under CEF.

The funding supports projects across all EU MSs along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The EC is committed to “improve the missing infrastructure links, make transport more sustainable and efficient, increase safety and interoperability, as well as create jobs. These challenging times have reinforced the importance of our EU transport sector and of having a seamless, well connected infrastructure network.” For further info click here.

Projects include: 

• The creation of secure and safe parking infrastructure for lorries;
• Upgrades of basic port infrastructure, incl. onshore power supply for docked ships;
• Improved cross-border inland waterway connections and
• Series of pilot Digital European Sky Demonstrators for green aviation and urban air mobility.