On 24th of September the Connecting Europe Facility Progress Report, that covers the years spanning from 2021 till 2024, was published. The report downloadable at this link, includes information on the implementation of the CEF and clarifies whether the transport, energy and digital sectors, the three main pillars of the programme, are on track for completion by 2027.
The interim evaluation of the 2021–2027 CEF is still ongoing and aims to provide a deeper analysis of the programme’s outcomes. However, at this stage, it is already clear that the CEF has proven to be an effective instrument, for boosting safe and secure mobility in Europe.
By 2025, the entire €25.8 billion budget of CEF Transport will be fully committed. The selected projects are set to advance the TEN-T network, yet the scale of investment required remains immense—an estimated €845 billion over the next 15 years, including €210 billion for projects with the highest EU added value. In particular, CEF-T also supports road-related projects, including the construction and upgrading of TEN-T roads, the development of safe and secure parking areas, and the deployment of intelligent transport systems (ITS).
CEF Transport further contributes to road safety through initiatives such as building safe and secure parking areas, removing level crossings, improving road alignments for safety reasons, and rolling out ITS. To date, 58 road safety projects have received €3 billion in funding.
As also highlighted by Filip Alexandru Negreanu Arboreanu, Deputy Head of Unit – Road Transport, DG MOVE (European Commission), during his keynot in the ESPORG CEF webinar of the 3rd of September, since 2019, EU funding has helped deliver over 7,000 safe and secure parking spaces and co-funded 138 parking areas with more than €231 million.
