The ESPO has called for the full recognition of the EU added value and cross-border impact of European in the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
On June 6, 2018, the EU Commission published the proposal for the next CEF, setting out the objectives of the financial instrument and the funding modalities.
The proposal supports three main transport objectives — the development of efficient and interconnected networks, the development of smart, secure and sustainable infrastructure, and the adaption of the TEN-T network to military mobility needs.
In total, the Commission has proposed a CEF budget for 2021-2027 of €42.3 billion (approximately $50 billion), with a transport envelope of €30.6 billion.
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The ESPO publically support the new proposal, including the budgetary envelope, the focus on climate-proof investments, and the integration of missing ports in the corridors.
ESPO’s Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost, commented: “We welcome the new Commission proposal on CEF as a good basis for addressing the huge investments requirements ports are facing at the moment.
“While we are supporting the general priorities of the new proposal in terms of strengthening the connectivity, the efficiency, sustainability and smart mobility, we must focus on applying these concepts in the right way to achieve a better integration of European seaports into the network.
“European ports are nodes of transport, energy, industry and blue economy.
“We must ensure that this important and complex role of European ports as spiders in the transport web should be better reflected in the new CEF.”
