The European Commission has selected 94 transportation projects to receive nearly €2.8bn (US$3.3bn) in EU grants under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). By modernizing railways, inland waterways and maritime routes across the trans-European transportation network (TEN-T), the projects is intended to not only help better connect European regions and cities – north to south, east to west – but also make the EU’s internal market more competitive and more resilient.
Greener ports and increased resilience
The EU is investing in a range of projects to reduce the environmental impact of maritime and inland waterway transportation. This includes upgrading ports in Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, Croatia and Poland with shore-side electricity to reduce emissions from ships at berth.
Support will also go to the construction and upgrading of multi-purpose icebreakers in Estonia, Finland and Sweden to strengthen the security and resilience of submarine cables, in line with the EU’s recent action plan.
In France and Spain, digital traffic management systems will be deployed to improve the safety and efficiency of short-sea shipping and reduce congestion. For inland waterways, France will see upgrades along the Rhine, while digitalization of waterborne transportation will be advanced in Belgium. 
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, commissioner for sustainable transport and tourism, commented, “With nearly €2.8bn in EU funding, we are delivering on Europe’s promise of a modern, sustainable and resilient transport network. These 94 projects will not only boost cross-border connectivity and efficiency but also boost competitiveness across the continent. From Rail Baltica in the north to shore-side electricity in our southern ports, and from secure road networks to a smarter Single European Sky – this investment is a cornerstone of our Green Deal and our geopolitical resilience.”
Next steps
The commission will now formally adopt the selection decision and CINEA will start preparing grant agreements for the chosen projects. These agreements are expected to be finalized by October 2025. The results are currently provisional and will only become official once the commission adopts the corresponding award decision.
The 94 projects have been selected from a pool of 258 applications submitted under the recent call for proposals, which closed on January 21, 2025. EU funding for these projects will be provided in the form of grants, which are used to co-finance total eligible project costs.
The CEF Transport program for 2021-2027 has a total budget of €25.8bn (US$30bn). It is available to fund projects in all EU member states as well as in Ukraine and Moldova – two CEF associated countries. With the current selection, 95% of this budget has already been allocated.
In related news, the EU’s Horizon Europe program has awarded €7.8m (US$8.2m) to the Steesmat project to develop a power system based on medium voltage direct current (MVDC), replacing today’s conventional alternating current (AC) systems. Read the full story here