The European Parliament adopted by 430 votes to 146, with 31 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Connecting Europe Facility and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1316/2013 and (EU) No 283/2014.
The European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:
Objective
The proposal aims to renew the Connecting Europe Facility for the period 2021-2027 in order to build, develop and modernise the trans-European networks in the fields of transport, energy and digital and to facilitate cross-border cooperation in the field of renewable energy.
The Programme has the following specific objectives:
In the transport sector
- 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;
- adapt parts of the trans-European transport network for a dual use of the transport infrastructure in view of improving both civilian and military mobility.
In the energy sector
- contribute to the development of projects of common interest relating to further integration of an efficient and competitive internal energy market, interoperability of networks across borders and sectors, facilitating decarbonisation of the economy, promoting energy efficiency and ensuring security of supply, and to facilitate cross-border cooperation in the area of energy, including renewable energy.
In the digital sector
- contribute to the development of projects of common interest relating to the deployment of safe and secure very high capacity digital networks and 5G systems, to the increased resilience and capacity of digital backbone networks on EU territories by linking them to neighbouring territories, as well to the digitalization of transport and energy networks.
Budget
Parliament has proposed that the financial envelope for the implementation of the programme for the period 2021-2027 be set at EUR 43.85 billion, with the following indicative breakdown:
- EUR 33.51 billion at constant prices for transport projects, including: (i) EUR 17.74 billion from the European Strategic Investments cluster; (ii) EUR 10 billion transferred from the Cohesion Fund and (iii) EUR 5.76 billion from the Defence cluster;
- at least EUR 8.65 billion for energy network projects, of which 15%, subject to market uptake, for cross-border renewable energy projects. If the 15% threshold is reached, the Commission shall increase this amount to a maximum of 20%;
- EUR 2.66 billion for the development of digital networks.
Up to 1% of the financial envelope may be used for technical and administrative assistance for the implementation of the programme and sector-specific guidelines. The amount transferred from the Cohesion Fund shall not be used to finance intersectoral work programmes and joint financing operations.
Cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy
These projects were expected to contribute to decarbonisation, the completion of the internal energy market and the improvement of security of supply. They would be included in a cooperation agreement between at least two Member States or between at least one Member State and one or more third countries referred to in Directive (EU) 2018/2001. A transparent, comprehensive and complete cost-benefit analysis of the project would be mandatory for all funded projects.
Projects of common interest in the field of digital connectivity infrastructure
These projects are expected to make an important contribution to the Union's strategic connectivity objectives and/or provide the network infrastructure supporting the digital transformation of the economy and society as well as the European Digital Single Market.
Transport sector
Support would be given to actions relating to interconnected, interoperable and multimodal networks for the development of rail, road, inland waterway and maritime infrastructure. Actions in support of telematics application systems shall include: (i) for railways: ERTMS; (ii) for inland waterways: RIS; (iii) for road transport: ITS; (iv) for maritime transport: VTMIS and e-Maritime services; (v) for air transport: air traffic management systems, in particular those resulting from the SESAR system.
To meet the needs of remote, insular and outermost regions, co-financing rates up to a maximum of 70% may apply. Actions contributing to synergies between the transport, energy and digital sectors may benefit from a higher co-financing rate.
Work programmes
In order to provide transparency and predictability and to enhance the quality of the projects, the Commission shall adopt by 31 December 2020 the first multiannual work programmes that will include the timetable of the calls for proposals for the first three years of the programme, their topics and indicative budget as well as a prospective framework covering the entire programming period.