EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

On 29 June 2011, the Commission adopted a proposal for the next Multi-Annual financial framework for the period 2014-2020[1]: ''A Budget for Europe 2020''. In its proposal, the Commission decided to propose the creation of a new integrated instrument for investing in EU infrastructure priorities in Transport, Energy and Telecommunications: the "Connecting Europe Facility" (hereafter CEF).

Smart, sustainable and fully interconnected transport, energy and digital networks are a necessary condition for the completion of the European single market. Moreover, investments in key infrastructures with strong EU added value can boost Europe’s competitiveness in a difficult economic context, marked by slow growth and tight public budgets. Finally, such investments in infrastructure are also instrumental in allowing the EU to meet its sustainable growth objectives outlined in the Europe 2020 Strategy and the EU's "20-20-20" objectives in the area of energy and climate policy[2].

This Regulation sets out the provisions governing the CEF. It draws on the work undertaken to prepare the revision of the policy framework in all three sectors (Transport, Energy, and Telecommunications) for the next Multi-Annual financial framework (2014-2020). In line with Article 170 of TFEU, new guidelines are proposed in each sector in line with the CEF. Therefore, the revised Guidelines for Transport, Energy and Telecommunications on the one hand and the CEF on the other hand constitute one coherent regulatory package.

In the past decade, infrastructure spending in Europe has been, on average, on a declining path. The economic and financial crisis has, however, brought renewed interest in the need for infrastructure investment. During the economic crisis, targeted investments in infrastructure renewal or construction have been an important part of stimulus and recovery plans at EU and Member State levels, as a way of supporting aggregate demand while ensuring a long term return from money spent. Most importantly, the crisis has shown that infrastructures are crucial for Europe's economic future.

A truly integrated Single Market, as the Monti Report indicated[3], would not be possible without a seamless connection between all its component parts. Transport connections, electricity grids and broadband networks are vital for a functioning, integrated economic area and for its social and territorial cohesion. Yet, while regulatory integration advances within the EU and markets become more integrated, most recently in the energy sector with the adoption and entry into force of the third liberalisation package, cross-border physical interconnection is lagging. Missing links exist, notably in the new Member States, creating dividing lines between the centre and peripheries of the European Union and hampering the further development of intra-Union exchanges or the growth of new economic sectors, such as e-commerce.

Considerable investment needs have been identified. In the energy sector, the proposed regulation concerning guidelines for the implementation of European energy infrastructurepriorities (hereafter Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure) identifies twelve infrastructure priority corridors and areas, four for each sector, electricity, and gas transportation, as well as smart grids deployment, electricity highways and cross-border carbon dioxide networks. Whilst Europe's energy system would require investments of ca. one trillion by 2020, out of which it is estimated that about €200 billion of investment is needed for electricity and gas networks of European importance alone . €100 billion of this total investment should be delivered by the market unaided , whereas the other €100 billion will require public action to leverage the necessary investments.

In the transport sector, a Europe-wide ‘core network’ has been identified using a pan-European planning methodology. This core network with corridors, carrying freight and passenger traffic with high efficiency and low emissions, makes extensive use of existing infrastructure. By completing missing links and alleviating bottlenecks and with the use of more efficient services in multimodal combinations, it will handle the bulk of transport flows in the single market. The cost of EU infrastructure development to match the demand for transport has been estimated at over €1.5 trillion for 2010-2030 for the entire transport networks of the EU Member States. The completion of the trans-European transport networks requires about €500 billion by 2020, of which €250 billion would be needed to complete missing links and remove bottlenecks on the core network.

For the telecommunication networks, the removal of (digital) bottlenecks which hinder the completion of the Digital Single Market is a key objective. This implies a need for an overall improvement of the whole broadband network and the establishment of digital service infrastructure platforms that permit a coherent digital deployment of European public services. Indeed, these networks, both physical and service-based, are key enablers for smart growth. As part of the Digital Agenda, every European should have access to basic broadband by 2013 and fast and ultra fast broadband by 2020. In September 2010, the Commission outlined the steps needed to trigger up to €270 billion of investment required to bring ultra-fast broadband to all European households and businesses by 2020. In the current circumstances a part of these investment needs will be covered by the private sector. The investment needs for achieving these objectives are estimated at up to €270 billion. However, in the absence of Union intervention, private sector investment is expected to be not more than EUR 50 billion for the period until 2020. This results in an investment gap of up to €220 billion. As the social benefits from investment in digital infrastructures by far exceeds the private incentive for investment, focused public intervention is necessary to stimulate the market.

The analysis carried out by the Commission services in preparation of this Regulation have shown that while the market and national budgets are expected to play a major role in delivering the required infrastructures through appropriate investment and pricing mechanisms, some investments in infrastructure will not take place or will be delayed far beyond 2020, if the EU does not take action. Therefore, there is a need for a significant contribution from the EU budget in the next Multi-Annual financial framework to ensure that EU infrastructure priorities are actually delivered.

In order to increase the impact of EU budgetary resources, the Commission proposes to tap more systematically into the use of innovative financial instruments to offer an alternative to the traditional grant funding and plug financing gaps for strategic investments. An important feature of innovative financial instruments is that they create a stronger multiplier effect for the EU budget than traditional instruments, by facilitating and attracting other public and private financing to projects of EU interest. They leverage the investment and consequently magnify the impact of the EU budget.

Building on the experience of financial instruments under the current financial framework put in place in cooperation with the European Investment Bank (EIB), such as the Loan Guarantee Instrument for trans-European transport networks projects (hereafter LGTT), the Commission proposes to implement a significant part of its interventions within the CEF through financial instruments. In particular, the Europe 2020 Project Bond Initiative[4] will be used as a means of securing investment resources for infrastructure projects of key strategic European interest.

2. RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

2.1 Consultation and expert advice

This Regulation draws on extensive consultation with stakeholders, EU institutions and bodies, Member States, regional or local authorities, social and economic partners, academic experts and international institutions. The results of mid-term evaluations carried out on the 2007-13 programmes as well as a broad range of studies and expert advice were used as input.

For the three sectors, the stakeholder contributions raised inter alia the following issues:

There is a broad consensus emerging from the consultations on the fact that accelerating the development of infrastructure with European added value requires increased EU support.

Stakeholders called for a higher leverage of EU funding towards trans-European networks policy objectives through for instance a greater coordination between different financial instruments, namely the Cohesion Fund and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the trans-European networks programmes and the EIB's interventions.

Widening the portfolio of available financial instruments is seen by stakeholders as a means to better adjust support to the particular needs of a project, to enable effective project structuring and to attract new investors. The planned Project Bonds Initiative is particularly suitable for larger investments under the CEF.

2.2 Impact Assessment

The proposed Regulation has been the subject of an impact assessment concerning possible implementation options of the CEF as a policy initiative, i.e. options concerning the definition of the CEF operational rules. The impact assessment started from the overarching objective of the CEF as proposed in the Multiannal Financial Framework Communication "A Budget for Europe 2020"[5] – to accelerate the infrastructure development that the EU needs to reach the Europe 2020 Strategy's objectives as well as the ''20-20-20'' energy and climate change targets – and drew on the input of stakeholder consultations, and of evaluation studies of current EU programmes providing financial support to TEN development.

The main focus of the assessment of impacts of the possible policy options has been the achievement, in a most effective, efficient and coherent manner of two main specific objectives:

1) Increase the leverage of EU funds – by defining forms, methods and rules of financing that can ensure maximal leverage in attracting public and private investment for projects with a European and Single Market dimension, in particular priority networks that must be implemented by 2020 and where European added value is most warranted including, where appropriate, those that may take place in third countries;

2) Facilitate the timely delivery of EU co-funded projects – by defining monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that reward performance and penalise non-effective use of EU funds.

At the same time, the assessment of the policy options had to take into account two associated overarching policy goals of the Union: on the one hand, the achievement of the sector specific policy objectives in the field of infrastructures as defined in Articles 170 and 171 of the TFEU, and on the other hand, the simplification of the EU funding rules by exploiting synergies within and between sectors, to which the Commission has firmly committed itself[6]. As these two policy goals are not however fully compatible, finding the appropriate balance between coherence with sector policy objectives and maximisation of synergies was a key principle pursued in assessing the options defining the CEF operating rules.

Nine main policy options alternatives were initially considered, starting from the central rationale underlying the Commission's decision to propose the establishment of the Connecting Europe Facility, namely simplifying the existing EU funding framework by drawing on sectoral synergies. The policy alternatives were built on combinations of scenarios corresponding to three basic options for financial rules simplification – minimal, maximal and variable (or "à la carte") harmonisation of sectoral rules – in the two areas of policy intervention corresponding to the two main specific objectives identified earlier – investment leverage and programme implementation.

The range of options was thus situated between two extremes. At one extreme, minimum harmonisation of both investment leverage and programme implementation referred to a situation where completely distinct, specific rules and set-ups for providing EU funding support under the CEF in each sector would be established. At the other extreme was the policy option characterised by maximum harmonisation of both investment leverage and programme implementation rules, referring to a situation where the three sectors would have thoroughly common financial rules and programme management set-ups for the use of funds under the CEF. In between these extremes, the remaining options envisaged situations whereby sectors shared certain rules and set-ups whereas other remained distinct and sector specific, i.e. combinations of maximal or variable harmonisation of rules in one area of policy intervention with variable or minimal harmonisation of the sectoral rules in the other area.

The assessment of the impacts of these policy options, with respect to the achievement of the objectives highlighted earlier, has lead to the conclusion that two of the considered options could best ensure that the CEF, by means of its operational rules, would support an accelerated development of infrastructure of EU interest:

- The policy option where the harmonisation of rules would be variable – i.e. with a number of rules common and a number remaining sector specific – in both the area of investment leverage and that of programme implementation – would be the best option from the perspective of coherence with all the relevant EU policy goals;

- Whereas the policy option where a variable harmonisation at the level of rules for investment leverage was chosen with a maximal harmonisation of rules at the level of programme implementation might prove more efficient from a cost-related perspective.

Nevertheless, the second option might have a longer term negative impact with regard to the capacity to respond to sector-specific situations, particularly as regards the programming of funds and which might, in the long run, offset initial cost-savings. It was therefore eventually concluded that a certain degree of sectoral flexibility also in defining the CEF rules in the area of programme implementation would be the best option for ensuring the CEF objectives.

The provisions concerning the use of funds under the CEF put forward in the present Regulations have been drafted based on the considerations and conclusions highlighted in the above mentioned impact assessment.

2.3 EU Added Value of the CEF

The process of consultation with interested parties as well as the analysis carried out in the impact assessment has highlighted that the added value of the CEF as a common funding framework would be four fold:

1. A common framework would lead to the simplification of the EU legal framework concerning TEN infrastructures funding. It would also ensure a coherent approach to EU project financing across the three sectors.

2. At the same time, a single EU infrastructure fund and financial framework would provide a coherent and transparent approach to EU funding that would offer certainty and would thus have a huge potential to attract more private sector financing. Financial instruments would be available in a centralised and coordinated manner, attracting and improving the effectiveness of the relationship with the private investors and the partner financial institutions.

3. In addition, the progressively increasing interdependency between economic infrastructure projects, networks and sectors would enable the realisation of economies of scale. An integrated EU infrastructure funding framework could allow exploiting cross-sector synergies at project development and implementation level, enabling cost savings and/or more efficient exploitation and higher returns.

4. Last but not least, a common framework draws on lessons learned and best practice sharing across sectors, enabling thus an enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of EU financing in all sectors.

3. LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL

Trans-European networks are covered under Article 170 TFEU, which specifies: “The Union shall contribute to the establishment and development of trans-European networks in the areas of transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructures”. The right for the EU to act in the field of infrastructure financing is set out in Article 171 which provides that the Union "may support projects of common interest supported by Member States, (…) particularly through feasibility studies, loan guarantees or interest-rate subsidies". Article 172 TFEU specficies that ''the guidelines and other measures referred to in Article 171 (1) shall be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and after consulting the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.''

In the Budget Review Communication, the Commission underscored the importance of employing the EU budget in order to "plug gaps left by the dynamics of national policy-making, most obviously addressing cross-border challenges in areas like infrastructure, mobility, territorial cohesion… - gaps which would otherwise damage the interest of the EU as a whole."[7] Member States tend to prioritise projects of primary national relevance when planning and funding infrastructure, and these may not always be the same as cross-border projects that carry higher added value for the citizens on an overall EU level.[8] The aggregate expenditure of the EU and the Member States should be efficient, ensure an adequate scale of the investment and promote synergies.

The legislative instrument, and the type of measure (i.e. funding) are both defined in the TFEU, which provides the legal basis for the CEF, and states that the tasks, priority objectives and the organisation of the trans-European networks may be defined in regulations.

4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATION

The Commission’s proposal for the next Multi-Annual financial framework includes a proposal for €50 billion[9] for the period 2014-2020, of which €10 billion earmarked in the Cohesion Fund for transport infrastructure.

CEF | €40 billion |

Energy | €9.1 billion |

Transport | €21.7 billion |

Telecommunications/Digital | €9.2 billion |

Amounts ring fenced in the Cohesion Fund for transport infrastructures | €10 billion |

Total | €50 billion |

Experience with the current financial framework shows that many Member States, which are eligible to the Cohesion Fund, have difficulties designing and implementing complex cross-border transport infrastructure projects. Therefore, for the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework, the Commission proposes that while the Cohesion Fund continues to support Member States whose Gross National Income (GNI) per inhabitant is less than 90% of the EU27 average in making investments in trans-European Transport networks and the environment, part of the Cohesion Fund allocation (€10 billion) will be used to finance transport projects on the transport core network in the Cohesion Fund eligible Member States under the Connecting Europe Facility.

5. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS OF REGULATION

5.1 A single framework for investing into EU infrastructure priorities

Past experience in infrastructure financing through TEN frameworks, the EERP and the Cohesion and Structural funds shows that the EU can bring a value added to infrastructures. A consensus exists among stakeholders that in a "business as usual" scenario, Europe might not be able to mobilise in time the investments needed to modernise its infrastructure networks and plug missing links.

In the wake of the financial crisis, Member States' public budgets are struggling with the necessary fiscal consolidation. Capital expenditure has often suffered substantial cuts, with spending for infrastructure investment projects suspended or delayed. At the same time, the prospects for stepping up investments from private sources are uncertain. In addition to financing constraints, regulatory obstacles also delay or impede the implementation of needed infrastructure projects. Against this background, the current EU framework for infrastructure funding does not seem adequate to provide an effective response. Funding is fragmented among too many programmes and prevents the full exploitation of synergies between programmes and sectors.

In re-designing its funding strategy for infrastructure, the Commission has pursued the following objectives:

- Ensure cost-effective and timely implementation of key priority network infrastructure in the energy, transport and ICT sectors, as identified in the Energy Infrastructure Package, the White Paper for Competitive and Sustainable Transport[10] and the Digital Agenda for Europe.

- Maximise synergies between the energy, transport and ICT programmes, so that funding responds to a coherent policy strategy and projects are selected according to clear harmonised criteria.

- Enhance the EU funds' ability to leverage other public or private funds so that the aggregate volume of resources mobilised is adequate to meet the projected investment needs to 2020;

- Ensure optimal project selection, follow up and monitoring so that EU funding is well targeted, delivers the highest impact and is spent in the most effective way.

The rationale for a common legislative basis for providing financial support in three distinct sectors with different policy framework lies in the opportunity to exploit synergies across sectors, stemming from common issues with regard to the financing of the implementation of otherwise importantly varying policy objectives. The added value of a common framework would be three fold.

A common framework would result in a simplification of the EU legal framework concerning TEN infrastructures funding. It would also ensure a coherent approach to EU project financing across the three sectors. As highlighted earlier, the EU infrastructure financial framework is currently fairly complex, due mainly to the number and heterogeneity of the existing EU legal texts. Simplification of rules is one of the keywords of the new approach proposed by the Commission with regard to EU budgetary spending.

At the same time, a single EU infrastructure financial framework and fund would provide a coherent and transparent approach to EU funding that would offer certainty and would thus have a huge potential to attract more private sector financing. Financial instruments would be available in a centralised and coordinated manner, attracting and improving the effectiveness of the relationship with the private investors and the partner financial institutions.

In addition, the progressively increasing interdependency between economic infrastructure projects, networks and sectors would enable the realisation of economies of scale. An integrated EU infrastructure funding framework would allow exploiting cross-sector synergies at project development and implementation level, enabling cost savings and/or more efficient exploitation and higher returns.

Last but not least, a common framework would allow lessons learned and best practice sharing across sectors, enabling an enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of EU financing in all sectors.

5.2 Simplification measures and coherence with existing rules

Simplification of rules is one of the keywords of the new approach proposed by the Commission with regard to EU budgetary spending. The common CEF framework results in a simplification of the EU legal framework concerning TEN infrastructures funding. A unique legal text covers EU project funding across Transport, Energy and Digital networks.

Though the sectors are technologically/financially/regulatory different – there is a sufficient number of commonalities to propose a real improvement with regard to the existing different instruments. At the same time, the proposal spells out specific rules which are necessary to maintain for the overall aim of the CEF: accelerate and better target the flow of public EU money to important infrastructure projects of EU interest.

The current text introduces simplification, in particular addressing the following issues:

- Alignment of indicators on the Europe 2020 Strategy's objectives

- Flexibility on budget allocations

- Centralised management for the three sectors, possibly through implementation via an executive agency.

- Common funding instruments

- Common award criteria

- Common conditions for financial assistance

- One stop visibility through common annual work programmes - important for sector - and common committee - important for Member States

Furthermore, full coherence with current and future Financial Regulation has been ensured. The exceptions foreseen, are either duly allowed for in related legal texts or precedents exist.

5.3 Stronger emphasis on financial instruments

The CEF will complement EU direct support with financial instruments in order to optimise the impact of funding. Through the high multiplier effects of financial instruments (e.g. which could be as high as up to 1:15 to 1:20), access to capital for the substantial investment needs will be facilitated. Together with the successful absorption of direct EU support (as experienced in the European Energy Recovery Plan (EERP) and in the TEN-T programme), the increased reliance on financial instruments will contribute significantly to mitigating risks to project promoters and therefire ensure implementation of projects of common interest.

Furthermore, the task is to build an environment conducive to private investment and develop instruments that will be attractive vehicles for specialised infrastructure investors. To be most effective, such vehicles need to aim at reducing risk by diversifying the portfolio of potential projects. The maximum diversification can be achieved by targeting multiple sectors across a wide range of countries. This can be achieved most successfully at the European level and on the basis of well-defined corridors and targeted areas of investment. Therefore, most financial instruments should be common for all sectors. However, it is not excluded that some financial instruments may be developed to cover the specific needs of an individual sector.

On the basis of analysis conducted in the preparatory phase of this Regulation, the Commission services estimate that while the financial support for broadband would primarily rely on financial instruments, for transport and energy the volume of EU budgetary resources required for financial instruments should not exceed more than €2 billion and €1 billion respectively. These estimates are not to be understood as binding ceilings, since the volume of EU funding allocated to financial instruments will be adjusted every year on the basis of an assessment of the project pipeline conducted by financial intermediaries (e.g. the EIB in the case of project bonds).

5.4 The Connecting Europe Facility in the context of the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework

The Connecting Europe Facility will be an essential element of an EU growth agenda focussed on increasing the EU's long-term growth potential. The Facility will be coordinated with the other interventions coming from the EU budget such as ''Horizon 2020'' and the Cohesion and Structural Funds.

As regards the coordination with Horizon 2020, it is necessary to ensure complementarities while avoiding potential overlaps. It is also important that the coordination between the CEF and Horizon 2020 ensures that the research and innovation chain leading to deployment in infrastructure is not interrupted. It is particularly critical at a time when significant technological advances in transport, energy and ICT will be needed to help the EU meet its ambitious Europe 2020 Strategy's objectives. Any support to research and innovation activities through financial instruments will be implemented through Horizon 2020-related financial instruments.

As regards the relation with the Cohesion and Structural Funds, the cohesion policy's Common Strategic Framework as well as Partnership Contracts with Member States will be closely coordinated with the policy frameworks in the transport, energy and telecommunication sectors. The respective guidelines will rely on the Cohesion and Structural Funds to deliver the local and regional infrastructures and their linkages to the priority EU infrastructures, connecting all citizens throughout the EU.

Moreover, the Connecting Europe Facility will be a centrally managed facility, benefiting from ring fenced amounts for transport in the Cohesion Fund (€10 billion in 2011 prices). In the allocation of the €10 billion, the greatest possible priority will be given to projects respecting the national allocations under the Cohesion Fund. Moreover, these €10 billion will be reserved for Member states eligible for the Cohesion Fund, and co-financing rates from the Union budget will be set at the same level as the Cohesion Fund.

2011/0302 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

establishing the Connecting Europe Facility

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 172 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission[11],

After transmission of the proposal to the national Parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee[12],

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions[13],

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

5. The creation of the Connecting Europe Facility should maximise the potential for growth through the realisation of synergies between transport, energy and telecommunications policies and their implementation, thus enhancing the efficiency of the Union's intervention.

6. A fully functioning single market depends on modern, highly performing infrastructure connecting Europe particularly in the areas of transport, energy and telecommunications. These growth enhancing connections would provide better access to the internal market and consequently contribute to a more competitive market economy in line with Europe 2020 Strategy's objectives and targets[14].

7. The creation of a Connecting Europe Facility aims at accelerating the investments in the field of trans-European networks and leverage funding from both the public and private sectors.

8. The creation of efficient transport and energy infrastructure networks is one of the 12 key actions identified by the Commission in its Communication on a Single Market Act[15].

9. The Commission has committed to mainstream climate change into Union spending programmes and to direct at least 20% of the Union budget to climate-related objectives. It is important to ensure that climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as risk prevention and management are promoted in the preparation, design and implementation of projects of common interest. Infrastructure investments covered by this Regulation should contribute to promoting the transition to a low-carbon and climate- and disaster-resilient economy and society.

10. The European Parliament in its 8 June 2011 Resolution on "Investing in the future: a new Multiannual Financial Framework (''MFF'') for a competitive, sustainable and inclusive Europe" stressed the importance of ensuring the rapid execution of the Union's Digital Agenda and of continuing efforts towards reaching by 2020 the targets of making the access to high-speed internet available to all Union citizens, also in less developed regions.[16] The Parliament also underlined that investing in effective transport infrastructure had a key role for Europe to defend its competitiveness and pave the way for post crisis, long term economic growth and that the Trans-European Transport Network (''TEN-T'') was vital in order to guarantee the proper functioning of the internal market and provide important Union added value. The Parliament expressed that it strongly believed that TEN-T should, accordingly, be a key priority in the next MFF and that an increase in TEN-T funds is necessary in the next MFF. In addition, the Parliament emphasised the need to maximise the impact of Union funding and the opportunity offered by the Cohesion and Structural Funds and financial instruments to fund key national and cross-border European priority energy infrastructure projects and stressed the need for a substantial allocation from the Union budget for financial instruments in this field.

11. On 28 March 2011, the Commission adopted the White Paper ''A Roadmap to a Single Transport Area ― Towards a competitive and resource-efficient transport system''[17]. The White Paper aims at reducting by at least 60% the greeenhouse gas emissions (''GHG'') of the transport sector by 2050 with respect to 1990. As far as infrastructure is concerned, the White Paper aims at establishing a fully functional and Union-wide multimodal TEN-T ‘core network’ by 2030. The White Paper also aims at optimising the performance of multimodal logistic chains, including by making greater use of more energy-efficient modes. Therefore, it sets the following relevant targets for TEN-T policy: 30% of road freight over 300 km should shift to other modes by 2030, and more than 50% by 2050; the length of the existing high-speed rail network should triple by 2030 and by 2050 the majority of medium-distance passenger transport should go by rail; by 2050, all core network airports should be connected to the rail network; all seaports to the rail freight and, where possible, to the inland waterway system.

12. The European Parliament in its Resolution of 6 July 2010 on a sustainable future for transport[18] emphasised that an efficient transport policy required a financial framework that was appropriate to the challenges arising and that, to that end, the current resources for transport and mobility should be increased; it further considered necessary the creation of a facility to coordinate the use of different sources of transport funding, funds available under cohesion policy, public-private partnerships (''PPPs'') or other financial instruments such as guarantees.

13. The Transport, Telecommunication and Energy (TTE) Council, in its conclusions of 11 June 2009 on the TEN-T policy review[19] reaffirmed the need to continue investing in transport infrastructure to ensure proper development of the TEN-T in all transport modes, as a basis for the internal market and competitiveness, economic, social and territorial cohesion of the Union and its connection to neighbouring countries, focusing on the European added value. The Council underlined the need for the Community to make available the financial resources necessary to stimulate investment in TEN-T projects and, in particular, the need to reconcile adequate financing support from the TEN-T budget to the priority projects which involve relevant cross-border sections and the implementation of which would extend beyond 2013 within the institutional constraints of the financial programming framework. In the view of the Council, public-private partnership approaches should be further developed and supported in this context where appropriate.

14. On the basis of the objectives set by the White Paper, the TEN-T guidelines as laid down in Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of …[20] identify the infrastructure of the trans-European transport network, specify the requirements to be fulfilled by it and provide for measures for their implementation. The Guidelines envisage in particular the completion of the core network by 2030.

15. Based on an analysis of the transport infrastructure plans of Member States, the Commission estimates that investment needs in transport amount to EUR 500 billion in the entirety of the TEN-T network for the period 2014-2020, of which an estimated EUR 250 billion will need to be invested in the core network of the TEN-T. Given the resources available at Union level, concentration on the projects with the highest European added value is necessary to achieve the desired impact. Support should therefore be focussed on the core network (in particular, the core network corridors) and on the projects of common interest in the field of traffic management systems (notably the air traffic management systems resulting from SESAR which require Union budgetary resources of about EUR 3 billion).

16. Within the framework of the TEN-T policy review launched in February 2009, a dedicated expert group was created to support the Commission and look into the issue of the funding strategy and financing perspectives for the TEN-T. Expert Group No 5 drew from the experience of external experts from various fields: infrastructure managers, infrastructure planners, national, regional and local representatives, environmental experts, academia, and private sector representatives. The final report of Expert Group No 5[21] adopted in July 2010 contains 40 recommendations, some of which have been taken into account in this proposal.

17. Experience with the current financial framework shows that many Member States, which are eligible to the Cohesion Fund, are facing significant obstacles in delivering on time complex cross-border transport infrastructure projects with a high Union added value. Therefore, in order to improve the delivery of transport projects, in particular cross-border ones, with a high Union added value, part of the Cohesion Fund allocation (EUR 10 billion[22]) should be transferred to finance transport projects on the transport core network in the Member States eligible to the Cohesion Fund under the Connecting Europe Facility. The Commission should support Member States eligible to the Cohesion Fund to develop an adequate pipeline of projects in order to give greatest possible priority to the national allocations under the Cohesion Fund.

18. In the Communication on "Energy infrastructure priorities for 2020 and beyond – a Blueprint for an integrated energy network" adopted in November 2010[23], the Commission identified the priority corridors, which are necessary to allow the Union to meet its ambitious energy and climate targets by 2020 for completing the internal energy market, ensuring security of supply, enabling the integration of renewable sources of energy and to prepare the networks for further decarbonisation of the energy system beyond 2020.

19. Major investments are needed to modernise and expand Europe's energy infrastructure and to interconnect networks across borders to meet the Union's energy and climate policy objectives of competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply in a cost-effective way. The estimated investment needs in energy infrastructure up to 2020 amount to EUR 1 trillion, of which ca. EUR 200 billion in electricity and gas transmission and storage infrastructures considered of European relevance. Among projects of European relevance, approximately EUR 100 billion of investments is at risk of not being delivered due to obstacles related to permit granting, regulation and financing.

20. The urgency to build the energy infrastructure of the future and the significant increase in investment volumes compared to past trends requires a step change in the way energy infrastructure is supported at EU level. In its conclusions[24] the Transport, Telecommunication and Energy (TTE) Council of 28 February 2011 endorsed the energy corridors as priorities for Europe.

21. The 4 February 2011 European Council[25] called upon the Commission to streamline and improve authorisation procedures and to promote a regulatory framework attractive to investment. The European Council underlined that the bulk of the investment would have to be delivered by the market with costs recovered through tariffs. The European Council recognised that public finance was needed for projects required from a security of supply or solidarity perspective, which were unable to attract market based financing.

22. Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of … [Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure][26] defines trans-European energy infrastructure priorities, which should be implemented by 2020 to meet the Union's energy and climate policy objectives; sets rules to identify projects of common interest necessary to implement these priorities, introduces measures in the field of permit granting, public involvement and regulation to speed up and/or facilitate the implementation of these projects, including criteria for general eligibility of such projects for Union financial aid.

23. Telecommunications are increasingly becoming internet-based infrastructures, with broadband networks and digital services closely interrelated. The internet is becoming the dominant platform for communication, offering services, and doing business. Therefore the trans-European availability of fast Internet access and digital services is essential for economic growth and the Single Market.

24. Modern, fibre-based internet networks are a crucial infrastructure for the future in terms of connectivity for European companies, in particular SMEs that want to use cloud computing in order to improve cost-efficiency.

25. The Europe 2020 Strategy[27] calls for the implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe[28] that establishes a stable legal framework to stimulate investments in an open and competitive high speed internet infrastructure and in related services. The June 2010 European Council endorsed the Digital Agenda for Europe and called upon all institutions to engage in its full implementation.[29]

26. On 31 May 2010, the Council concluded that Europe should put the necessary resources into the development of a digital single market based on fast and ultra fast internet and interoperable applications and acknowledged that efficient and competitive investment in next generation broadband networks would be important for innovation, consumer choice and for the competitiveness of the Union and could provide better quality of life through better health care, safer transport, new media opportunities and easier access to goods and services in particular across borders.[30]

27. The private incentives to invest in very fast broadband networks appear to be lower than benefits for the society as a whole. The investment needs for achieving the Digital Agenda objective of providing fast Internet access for all European citizens and businesses are estimated to reach up to EUR 270 billion. However, in the absence of Union intervention, private sector investment is expected to be not more than EUR 50 billion for the period until 2020. The resulting investment gap represents a major bottleneck to infrastructure provision, while at the same time the Digital Single Market relies on all citizens to be connected via the infrastructure of the future.

28. It is necessary to develop strong and coherent EU-wide networks for the digital delivery of public-good actions, involving both public and civil society actors at national and regional level, and to this end it is essential to ensure the structured EU financing of the costs of the system and software design, as well as maintenance of a resilient hub for such networks, leaving only in-country costs for national operator budgets.

29. Several methods of implementation are necessary and require different funding rates to increase the efficiency and impact of the Union financial aid, to encourage private investment, and to respond to the specific requirements of individual projects.

30. In the area of telecommunications certain core service platforms which ensure trans-European interoperability will need a higher funding rate from the Union, in particular in the start-up phase, while respecting the co-financing principle.

31. Ensuring cross-border interoperability in the deployment of large scale infrastructure projects, in particular at the level of core services, may require simultaneous procurement and installation of equipment by the Commission, Member State and/or their beneficiaries. In such cases, Union financial aid may need to be allocated to procurements executed by infrastructure providers in Member States, either on their own behalf or in cooperation with the Commission. Provisions also enable multiple sourcing, which may be needed, inter alia , to provide for multi-language arrangements, to ensure security of supply and/or to implement network reduncuncy that is required to eliminate infrastructure network downtime that could be caused by a single point of failure.

32. Generic services in areas of public interest (as core services) are often affected by a strong degree of market failures. Indeed, the areas to be funded relate to public service delivery (eHealth, eIdentity, eProcurement large scale deployment and interoperability) hence not commercial by definition at a starting level. In addition, if only core services are funded, the challenge would be to create the right incentives at Member State and regional level to actually deploy services of public interest: this is due particularly to lack of incentive at national level to link national systems to the core systems (hence develop conditions for interoperability and cross-border services) as well as to the fact that private investors would not alone ensure service deployment within interoperable frameworks.

33. The digital guidelines as laid down in Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of …[31] [INFSO guidelines] identify the process and criteria for financing and also the various categories for investments.

34. Horizon 2020 – the future Framework Programme for Research and Innovation will focus among others on tackling societal challenges (e.g. smart, green and integrated transport, and secure, clean and efficient energy, and information and communication technology-enabled health, government and sustainable development) in order to respond directly to the challenges identified in the Europe 2020 Strategy by supporting activities covering the entire spectrum from research to market. Horizon 2020 will support all stages in the innovation chain, especially activities closer to the market including innovative financial instruments. With the aim to achieve a greater impact of the Union funding and in order to ensure coherence, the Connecting Europe Facility will develop close synergies with Horizon 2020.

35. The European Union and most Member States are party to the United Nations Convention on the Rigths of Persons with Disabilities while the remaining Member States are in the process of ratifying it. It is important in the implementation of the relevant projects that accessibility for persons with disabilities as mentioned in article 9 of the Convention.is considered in the specification of the projects.

36. The financial instruments to be implemented under this Regulation should reflect the rules provided in Title VIII of Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 [New financial regulation] and the Delegated Act and in line with best practice rules applicable to financial instruments.[32]

37. Fiscal measures in many Member States will drive or have already driven public authorities to reassess their infrastructure investment programmes. In this context, PPPs have been viewed as an effective means of delivering infrastructure projects ensuring the achievement of policy objectives such as combating climate change; promoting alternative energy sources as well as energy and resource efficiency, supporting sustainable transport and the deployment of broadband networks. The Commission committed in its PPP Communication of 19 November 2009[33] to improving access to finance for PPPs by broadening the scope of existing financial instruments.

38. Even though the bulk of the investment under Europe 2020 Strategy can be delivered by markets and regulatory measures, the financing challenge require public interventions and Union support by grants and innovative financial instruments. Financial instruments should be used to address specific market needs, in line with the objectives of the CEF, and should not crowd out private financing. Before deciding to use financial instruments, the Commission should carry out ex-ante assessments of these instruments.

39. The EU Budget Review[34] emphasised that the norm for projects with long-term commercial potential should be the use of Union funds in partnership with the financial and banking sectors, particularly the European Investment Bank (''EIB'') and Member States’ public financial institutions, but also with other international financial institutions and the private financial sector.

40. In the Europe 2020 Strategy, the Commission pledged to mobilise Union financial instruments as part of a consistent funding strategy, that pulls together Union and national public and private funding for infrastructures. This is based on the rationale that in many cases sub-optimal investment situations and market imperfections may be more efficiently tackled by financial instruments than by grants.

41. The Connecting Europe Facility should propose financial instruments to promote substantial participation by the private sector investors and financial institutions in infrastructure investment. To be sufficiently attractive to the private sector, financial instruments should be designed and implemented with due regard to simplification and reduction of administrative burden, while with a level of flexibility in mind to be able to respond to identified financing needs in a flexible manner. The design of these instruments should draw from the experience gained in the implementation of financial instruments in the 2007-2013 Multi-Annual Financial Framework, such as the Loan Guarantee instrument for TEN-T projects (LGTT), the Risk Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF) and the 2020 European Fund for Energy, Climate Change, and Infrastructure (the ''Marguerite Fund'').

42. While most financial instruments should be common for all sectors, some may be specific for individual sectors. Commission services estimate that while the financial support for broadband would primarily rely on financial instruments, for transport and energy the volume of Union budgetary resources required for financial instruments should not exceed EUR 2 billion and EUR 1 billion respectively.

43. In order to ensure sectorial diversification of beneficiaries of financial instruments as well as encourage gradual geographical diversification across the Member States, the Commission in partnership with the EIB, through joint initiatives such as the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) and Jaspers, should provide support to the Member States in developing an appropriate pipeline of projects that could be considered for project financing.

44. With respect to the conditions for the financial instruments, it might be necessary to add additional requirements in the Work Programmes, for example to ensure competitive markets in view of the development of the Union's policies, technological developments and other factors that may become relevant.

45. Multi-annual programming for support from the Facility should be directed towards supporting the Union's priorities by ensuring the availability of the necessary financial resources and the consistency and continuity of joint action by the Union and the Member States. For proposals submitted following the implementation of the first multiannual work programme in the sector of transport, eligibility of cost should start on 1 January 2014 to ensure the continuity of projects already covered by Regulation (EC) No 680/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of the trans-European transport and energy networks[35].

46. Due to the high budget needed for the implementation of some infrastructure projects, there should be a possibility to divide budgetary commitments relative to the financial assistance for some actions into annual instalments.

47. Mid-term and ex-post evaluations should be carried out by the Commission in order to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the funding and its impact on the overall goals of the Facility and the Europe 2020 Strategy's priorities.

48. On the basis of the sector specific guidelines laid down in separate Regulations, a list of priority areas for which this Regulation should apply has been drawn up and should be included in the Annex. In order to take into account possible changes in political priorities and technological capabilities, as well as traffic flows, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of adopting amendments to the Annex. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing-up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.

49. In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission as regards multi-annual and annual work programmes. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers[36].

50. Council Regulation (EC) 2236/95 of 18 September 1995[37] laying down general rules for the granting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks and Regulation (EC) No 680/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council should accordingly be repealed.

51. The financial interests of the Union should be protected through proportionate measures throughout the expenditure cycle, including the prevention, detection and investigation of irregularities, the recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, penalties.

52. Some of the infrastructure projects of Union interest might need to link with and pass through neighbourhood, pre-accession and other third countries. The Connecting Europe Facility should offer simplified means of linking and financing these infrastructures, in order to ensure coherence between internal and external instruments of the Union budget.

53. Since the objectives of the action to be taken, and in particular the coordinated, development and financing of the trans-European networks, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the need for coordination of these objectives, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as also set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

TITLE I COMMON PROVISIONS

CHAPTER I THE CONNECTING EUROPE FACILITY

Article 1Subject matter

This Regulation establishes the Connecting Europe Facility and determines the conditions, methods and procedures for providing Union financial aid to trans-European networks in order to support projects in the field of transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructures.

Article 2Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

54. "project of common interest" means a project identified in Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of [to be completed when adopted including date of adoption and full names] [TEN-T Guidelines][38], Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of [to be completed when adopted including date of adoption and full names] [Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure][39] or Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines] of the European Parliament and of the Council of [to be completed when adopted including date of adoption and full names][40];

55. "cross-border section" means the section, which ensures the continuity of a project of common interest between at least two Member States or between a Member State and a neighbouring country;

56. "works" means, as the case may be, the purchase, supply and deployment of components, systems and services including software, the carrying out of development and construction and installation activities relating to a project, the acceptance of installations and the launching of a project;

57. "studies" means activities needed to prepare project implementation, such as preparatory, feasibility, evaluation, testing and validation studies, including in the form of software, and any other technical support measure, including prior action to define and develop a project and decide on its financing, such as reconnaissance of the sites concerned and preparation of the financial package;

58. "programme support actions" means accompanying measures necessary for the implementation of the Connecting Europe Facility and individual sector specific guidelines, such as services (notably technical assistance), as well as preparatory, feasibility, coordination, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities which are required directly for the management of this Facility and the achievement of its objectives, and in particular studies, meetings, information, infrastructure mapping, twinning, dissemination, awareness raising and communication actions, expenses linked to IT networks focusing on information exchange, together with all other technical and administrative assistance expenses that may be required for the management of this facility or implementation of the individual sector specific guidelines;

59. "action" means any activity that is necessary to implement a project of common interest and is independent financially, technically or over time;

60. "eligible costs" have the same meaning as in Commission Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [New Financial Regulation];

61. “beneficiary” means a Member State, an international organisation, a public or private undertaking or body that has been selected to receive financial aid under this Regulation and according to the modalities specified in each Work Programme.

62. "implementing body" means a public or private undertaking or body designated by a beneficiary, where the latter is a Member State or an international organisation, to implement the action. Such designation shall be decided by the beneficiary under its own responsibility and, if it requires the award of a procurement contract, in compliance with the applicable public procurement rules;

63. "core network'" means the transport infrastructure identified according to Chapter III of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [TENT-T Guidelines];

64. "core network corridors" means an instrument to facilitate the coordinated implementation of the core network as provided for in Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [TENT-T Guidelines] and listed in Annex I to this Regulation;

65. "bottleneck" means a physical barrier that leads to a system break affecting the continuity of long-distance flows. Such a barrier can be absorbed by new infrastructure such as bridges or tunnels that address problems as for example gradients, curve radii, gauge. The need to upgrade existing infrastructure shall not be considered as a bottleneck;

66. “priority” means any of the energy infrastructure priorities 1 to 8 and 10 to 12 as designated in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure];

67. “energy infrastructure” means the infrastructure as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No (EU) No XXX/2012 [Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure];

68. "broadband networks" means wired and wireless (including satellite) access networks, ancillary infrastructure and core networks capable of delivering very high speed connectivity as defined in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines].

69. "digital service infrastructures" means networked services delivered electronically, typically over the internet, providing trans-European interoperable services in the public interest and having an enabling character for citizens, businesses, and/or governments as defined in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines];

70. "core service platforms" means services identified in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines];

71. "generic services" means services identified in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines];

72. "operation and maintenance of services" means ensuring continuous operation of certain digital service infrastructures, as further defined in the Annex to Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [INFSO guidelines];

73. "national regulatory authorities" means bodies defined in Article 3 of the Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services (Framework Directive)[41].

Article 3 General Objectives

The Connecting Europe Facility shall enable the preparation and implementation of projects of common interest within the framework of the trans-European networks policy in the sectors of energy, transport and telecommunications. In particular the Connecting Europe Facility shall support the implementation of projects aiming at the development and construction of new or upgrading of existing infrastructure in the field of transport, energy and telecommunications. To this end, the Connecting Europe Facility shall pursue the following objectives:

74. contribute to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth by developing modern and high performing trans-European networks, thus bringing forward benefits for the entire European Union in terms of competitiveness and economic, social and territorial cohesion within the Single Market and creating an environment more conducive to private and public investment through a combination of financial instruments and Union direct support and by exploiting synergies across the sectors. The achievement of this objective will be measured by the volume of public and private investment in projects of common interest, and in particular the volume of public and private investments in projects of common interest realised through the financial instruments under this Regulation.

75. enable the Union to achieve its targets of a 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions[42], a 20% increase in energy efficiency and raising the share of renewable energy to 20% up to 2020, while ensuring greater solidarity among Member States.

Article 4Specific Sectoral Objectives

1. Further to the general objectives set out under Article 3, the Connecting Europe Facility should contribute to achieving the following sector specific objectives:

76. In the field of transport, the Connecting Europe Facility shall support projects of common interest pursuing the objectives set out below, as further specified under Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No xxxx/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines]:

(i) removing bottlenecks and bridging missing links, to be measured by the number of new and improved cross-border connections and removed bottlenecks on transport routes which have benefited from CEF;

(ii) ensuring sustainable and efficient transport in the long run, to be measured by the length of the conventional railway network in the EU-27 and the length of high-speed railway network in the EU-27;

(iii) optimise the integration and interconnection of transport modes and enhancing interoperability of transport services. The achievement of this objective will be measured by the number of ports and airports connected to the railway network.

77. In the field of energy, the Connecting Europe Facility shall support projects of common interest pursuing the following objectives, as further specified in Regulation (EU) No xxxx/2012:

(i) promoting the further integration of the internal energy market and the interoperability of electricity and gas networks across borders, including by ensuring that no Member State is isolated from the European network, to be measured by the number of projects effectively interconnecting Member states' networks and removing internal bottlenecks;

(ii) enhancing Union security of supply, to be measured by the evolution of system resiliance and security of system operations as well as number of projects allowing diversification of supply sources, supplying counterparts and routes;

(iii) contributing to sustainable development and protection of the environment, notably by fostering the integration of energy from renewable sources into the transmission network and developing carbon dioxide networks, to be measured by the transmission of renewable energy from generation to major consumption centers and storage sites, and the sum of CO2 emissions prevented by the construction of the projects which benefited from CEF.

78. In the field of telecommunications networks the Connecting Europe Facility shall provide for action to support projects of common interest pursuing the following objectives, as further specified in Regulation (EU) No xxxx/2012 [INFSO Guidelines]:

(i) accelerating the deployment of fast and ultrafast broadband networks networks and their uptake, including by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), to be measured by the level of broadband and ultrafast broadband coverage and the number of households having subscribed for broadband connections for above 100 Mbps;

(ii) promoting the interconnection and interoperability of national public services on-line as well as access to such networks, to be measured by the percentage of citizens and businesses using public services on-line and the availability of such services across borders.

Article 5 Budget

79. The financial envelope for the implementation of the Connecting Europe Facility for the period 2014 to 2020 shall be EUR 50 000 000 000[43]. That amount shall be distributed among the sectors referred to in Article 3 as follows:

(a) transport: EUR 31 694 000 000, out of which EUR 10 000 000 000 shall be transferred from the Cohesion Fund to be spent in line with this Regulation in Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund;

(b) energy: EUR 9 121 000 000;

(c) telecommunications: EUR 9 185 000 000.

80. The financial envelope of the Connecting Europe Facility may cover expenses pertaining to, preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities which are required for the management of the Programme and the achievement of its objectives, in particular studies, meetings of experts, as far as they are related to the general objectives of this Regulation, expenses linked to IT networks focusing on information processing and exchange, together with all other technical and administrative assistance expenses incurred by the Commission for the management of the Programme.

The financial allocation may also cover the technical and administrative assistance expenses necessary to ensure the transition between the Programme and the measures adopted under Regulation (EC) No 680/2007[44]. If necessary, appropriations could be entered in the budget beyond 2020 to cover similar expenses, in order to enable the management of actions not yet completed by 31 December 2020.

81. Following the mid-term evaluation according to Article 26.1, the Commission may transfer appropriations between the sectors of the allocation set out in paragraph 1, with the exception of the EUR 10 000 000 000 transferred from the Cohesion Fund to finance transport sector projects in the Cohesion Fund eligible Member States.

CHAPTER IIFORMS OF FINANCING AND FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Article 6Forms of financial aid

1. The Connecting Europe Facility shall be implemented by one or several of the forms of financial aid, provided for by Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 [New Financial Regulation], in particular, grants, procurements and financial instruments.

2. The Commission may entrust part of the implementation of the Connecting Europe Facility to the bodies set out in Article 55(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [New Financial Regulation].

Article 7Eligibility and conditions for financial assistance

1. Only actions contributing to projects of common interest according to Regulations (EU) No XXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines], (EU) No XXX/2012 [TEN-E Guidelines, (EU) No XXX/2012 [Guidelines for energy infrastructure] and XXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines] as well as programme support actions shall be eligible for support through EU financial aid in the form of grants, financial instruments and procurement.

2. In the field of transport, only actions contributing to projects of common interest according to Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines] and programme support actions, shall be eligible for support through Union financial aid in the form of procurement and financial instruments under this Regulation. In the form of grants, only the following actions shall be eligible to receive Union financial aid under this Regulation:

82. actions implementing the core network according to Chapter III of Regulation (EU) NoXXXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines], including the deployment of new technologies and innovation according to Article 39 of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines];

83. studies for projects of common interest as defined in Article 8(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines];

84. actions supporting projects of common interest as defined in Article 8(1)(a) and (d) of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines];

85. actions supporting traffic management systems in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines];

86. actions supporting freight transport services in accordance with Article 38 of Regulation XXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines];

87. actions to reduce rail freight noise by retrofitting of existing rolling stock;

88. programme support actions.

Transport-related actions involving a cross-border section or a part of such a section shall be eligible to receive Union financial aid if there is a written agreement between the Member States concerned or between the Member States and third countries concerned relating to the completion of the cross-border section. Exceptionally, when a project is necessary to link to the network of a neighbouring Member State or a third country but does not actually cross the border, the written agreement referred to above shall not be required.

Grant funding for projects with significant user-based revenue sources shall be primarily available for purposes of project preparation, in particular PPP assessment.

3. In the field of energy, the specific eligibility conditions of actions implementing projects of common interest for Union financial aid in the form of financial instruments and grants under this Regulation are set out in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [Guidelines for energy infrastructure].

4. In the field of telecommuniation, all actions implementing the projects of common interest and programme support actions set out in the Annex of the Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines] shall be eligible to receive Union financial aid in the form of a grant, procurement and financial instruments under this Regulation.

CHAPTER IIIGRANTS

Article 8Forms of grants and eligible costs

1. Grants under this Regulation may take any of the forms provided for by Article XXX of Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 [New Financial Regulation].

The Work Programmes shall establish the forms of grants that may be used to fund the actions concerned.

2. Expenditure may be eligible from the date on which an application for aid is submitted. [Expenditure for actions resulting from projects included in the first multiannual programme may be eligible as from 1 January 2014].

3. Only expenditure incurred in Member States may be eligible, except where the project of common interest involves the territory of third countries and where the action is indispensable to achieve the objectives of the given project.

4. The cost of equipment and infrastructure which is treated as capital expenditure by the beneficiary may be eligible up to its entirety.

5. Expenditure related to environmental studies on the protection of the environment and on compliance with the Union acquis may be eligible.

6. Expenditure related to the purchase of land shall not be an eligible cost.

7. VAT shall not be an eligible cost.

8. Rules on the eligibility of costs incurred by beneficiaries shall apply mutatis mutandis to costs incurred by implementing bodies.

Article 9Conditions for participation

1. Proposals may be submitted by one or several Member States, international organisations, joint undertakings, or public or private undertakings or bodies established in Member States.

2. For that purpose, proposals may be submitted by entities which do not have legal personality under the applicable national law, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf and offer guarantee for the protection of the Union's financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.

3. Proposals submitted by natural persons shall not be eligible.

4. Where it is needed to achieve the objectives of a given project of common interest, third countries and entities established in third countries may participate in actions contributing to the projects of common interest.

They may not receive funding under this Regulation, except where it is indispensable to achieve the objectives of a given project of common interest.

When this is necessary to implement more effectively relevant actions contributing to projects of common interest in third countries according to Regulations (EU) No XXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines], (EU) No XXX/2012 [TEN-E Guidelines, (EU) No XXX/2012 [Guidelines for energy infrastructure] and XXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines], funding under this Regulation may be pooled together with funding covered by other relevant Union regulations. In such a case the Commission may decide, through an implementing act, on a single set of rules that should apply for implementation.

5. The agreement of Member States concerned by the action shall accompany all proposals for grants except in the field of telecommunications and in the field of transport for air traffic management.

6. Multiannual and annual Work Programmes may provide additional provide specific rules on submissions of proposals.

Article 10Funding rates

1. Except in cases referred to in Article XXX of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [New Financial Regulation], proposals shall be selected through calls for proposals based on the work programmes referred to in Article 17.

2. In the field of transport:

89. with regard to grants for studies, the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 50% of the eligible costs;

90. with regard to grants for works:

(i) rail and inland waterways: the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 20% of the eligible cost; the funding rate may be increased to 30% for actions addressing bottlenecks; the funding rate may be increased to 40% for actions concerning cross-border sections;

(ii) inland transport connections to ports and airports, actions to reduce rail freight noise by retrofitting of existing rolling stock, as well as development of ports and multi-modal platforms: the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 20% of the eligible cost.

91. with regard to grants for traffic management systems and services:

(i) the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS): the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 50% of the eligible cost;

(ii) traffic management systems, freight transport services, secure parkings on the road core network, as well as actions to support the development of Motorways of the Seas: the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 20% of the eligible cost.

3. In the field of energy:

92. the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 50% of the eligible cost of studies and/or works;

93. co-financing rates may be increased to a maximum of 80% for actions which based on the evidence referred to in Article 15(2) (a) of Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [Guidelines for energy infrastructure], provide a high degree of regional or Union-wide security of supply, or strengthen solidarity of the Union or comprise highly innovative solutions.

4. In the field of telecommunications:

94. actions in the field of broadband networks: the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 50% of the eligible cost;

95. actions in the field of generic services: the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 75% of the eligible costs;

96. core service platforms shall be typically funded by procurement. In exceptional cases, they may be funded by a grant covering up to 100% of eligible costs, without prejudice to the co-financing principle;

97. programme support actions including infrastructure mapping, twinning and technical assistance: the amount of Union financial aid shall not exceed 75% of the eligible costs.

5. Co-financing rates mentioned above may be increased by up to 10 percentage points for actions having cross-sector synergies, reaching climate mitigation objectives, enhancing climate resilience or reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. This increase should not apply to co-financing rates referred to in Article 11.

6. The amount of financial aid to be granted to the actions selected will be modulated based on a cost-benefit analysis of each project, availability of budget resources, and the need to maximise the leverage of EU funding.

Article 1 1 Specific calls for funds transferred from the Cohesion Fund in the field of transport

1. As regards the EUR 10 000 000 000 transferred from the Cohesion Fund [Regulation XXX Article XX] to be spent in Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund, specific calls shall be launched for projects implementing the core network exclusively in Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund.

2. Applicable rules for the transport sector under this Regulation shall apply to these specific calls. When implementing these calls, greatest possible priority shall be given to projects respecting the national allocations under the Cohesion Fund.

3. By the way of derogation from Article 10, and as regards the EUR 10 000 000 000 transferred from the Cohesion Fund [Regulation XXX Article XX] to be spent in Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund, the maximum funding rates shall be those applicable to the Cohesion Fund referred to in Article 22 and Article 110.3 of Regulation (EU) No XXX2012 [Regulation laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund covered by the Common Strategic Framework and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006][45] for the following actions:

98. with regard to grants for studies;

99. with regard to grants for works:

(i) rail and inland waterways;

(ii) actions to support cross-border road sections;

(iii) inland transport connections to ports and airports, development of multi-modal platforms and of ports;

100. with regard to grants for traffic management systems and services:

(i) the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS);

(ii) traffic management systems.

Article 1 2 Cancellation, reduction, suspension and termination of the grant

1. The Commission shall cancel, except in duly justified cases, financial aid granted for actions which have not been started within one year following the start date of the action established in the conditions governing the granting of aid.

2. The Commission may suspend, reduce, recover or terminate the financial aid according to the conditions set out in Regulation (EU) No XXX/2012 [New Financial Regulation] notably:

101. in the event of an irregularity committed in the implementation of the action with regard to the provisions of Union law;

102. in the event of failure to comply with the conditions governing the grant, in particular if a major change affecting the nature of a project or action has been made without the approval of the Commission;

103. following an evaluation of the progress of the project, in particular in the event of major delays in the implementation of the action.

3. The Commission may request the reimbursement of the financial aid granted if, within two years of the finishing date established in the conditions governing the granting of aid, the implementation of the action receiving the financial aid has not been completed.

4. Before the Commission takes any of the decisions provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, it shall examine the case at hand and inform the beneficiaries concerned so that they may present their observations within a given timeframe.

CHAPTER IV

PROCUREMENT

Article 13 Procurement

1. Public procurement procedures carried out by the Commission or one of the bodies referred to in Article 6(2) on its own behalf or jointly with Member States:

104. may provide for specific conditions such as the place of performance of the procured activities, where duly justified by the objectives of the actions and provided such conditions do not infringe public procurement principles;

105. may authorise multiple award of contracts within the same procedure ("multiple sourcing").

2. Where duly justified and required by the implementation of the actions, paragraph 1 may also apply to procurement procedures carried out by beneficiaries of grants.

CHAPTER VFINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Article 14 Type of financial instruments

1. Financial instruments set up in accordance with Title VIII of Regulation (EC) No XXXX/2012 [New Financial Regulation 2012], may be used to facilitate access to finance by entities implementing actions contributing to projects of common interest as defined in Regulations (EU) No XXXX/2012, (EU) No XXX 2012, and (EU) No XXX/2012, and to the achievement of their objectives. The financial instruments shall be based on ex-ante assessments of market imperfections or sub-optimal investment situations and investment needs.

2. Financial instruments established under Regulation (EC) No 680/2007 may be merged, if applicable, to those created under Connecting Europe Facility.

3. The following financial instruments may be used:

(a) equity instruments, such as investment funds with a focus on providing risk capital for actions contributing to projects of common interest;

(b) loans and/or guarantees facilitated by risk-sharing instruments, including enhancement mechanism to project bonds, issued by a financial institution on its own resources with a Union contribution to the provisioning and/or capital allocation;

(c) any other financial instruments.

Article 1 5 Conditions for granting financial aid through financial instruments

1. Actions supported by means of financial instruments s shall be selected on a first come first served basis and shall seek sectoral diversification in accordance with Articles 3 and 4 as well as gradual geographical diversification across the Member States.

2. The Union, any Member State and other investors may provide financial aid in addition to contributions received by the use of financial instruments, provided that the Commission agrees to any changes to eligibility criteria of actions and/or the investment strategy of the instrument which may be necessary due to the additional contribution.

3. The financial instruments shall aim to preserve the value of assets provided by the Union budget. The may generate acceptable returns to meet the objectives of other partners or investors.

4. Financial instruments may be combined with grants funded from the Union budget, including under this Regulation.

5. The Work Programmes may establish additional conditions according to the specific needs of the sectors.

6. In accordance with Article 18(2) of the Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [New Financial Regulation], revenues and repayments generated by one financial instrument shall be assigned to that financial instrument. For financial instruments already set up in the multiannual financial framework for the 2007-2013 period, revenues and repayments generated by operations started in that period shall be assigned to the financial instrument in the period 2014-2020.

Article 16 Actions in third countries

Actions in third countries may be supported by the financial instruments if it is necessary for the implementation of a project of common interest.

CHAPTER VIPROGRAMMING, IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL

Article 1 7 Multiannual and/or annual work programmes

1. The Commission shall adopt multiannual and annual work programmes for each sector. The Commission may also adopt multiannual and annual work programmes that cover more than one sector. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 24.2.

2. The multiannual work programme shall be reviewed at least at mid-term. If necessary, the Commission shall revise the multiannual work programme by means of implementing act. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 24.2.

3. A multiannual work programme in the field of transport shall be adopted for projects of common interest as listed in Part I of the Annex to this Regulation.

The amount of the financial envelope shall lie within a range of 80 to 85 % of the budgetary resources referred to in Article 5(1)(a).

4. The multiannual work programmes in the field of energy and telecommunications shall provide strategic orientation in the field of projects of common interest and may include specific projects of common interest.

5. The sectoral annual work programmes, in the field of transport, energy and telecommunications, shall be adopted for projects of common interest not included in the multiannual programme.

6. Acting in accordance with the procedure referred in paragraph 1, the Commission, when establishing multiannual and sectoral annual work programmes, shall establish the selection and award criteria in line with the objectives and priorities laid down:

(a) for transport in Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [TEN-T Guidelines];

(b) for energy in Regulation (EU) No XXXX/2012 [Guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure];

(c) for telecommunications in Regulation No (EU) XXXX/2012 [INFSO Guidelines].

7. Work programmes shall be coordinated in order to exploit the synergies between transport, energy and telecommunications, notably in such areas as smart energy grids, electric mobility, intelligent and sustainable transport systems, or joint rights of way. Multi-sectoral call for proposals can be adopted.

Article 18 Annual instalments

Budgetary commitments may be divided into annual instalments. If so, each year the Commission shall commit the annual instalments taking into account the progress of the actions receiving financial aid, the estimated needs and the budget available.

The indicative timetable covering the commitment of the individual annual instalments shall be communicated to the beneficiaries of grants and, if applicable for financial instruments, to the financial institutions concerned.

Article 19 Carry-over of annual appropriations

Appropriations which have not been used at the end of the financial year for which they were entered shall be carried-over automatically by one year.

[Article 20 Delegated acts

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 25 concerning the addition or modification of the lists provided in the Annex.]

Article 2 1 Responsibility of beneficiaries and Member States

Within the sphere of their responsibility and without prejudice to the obligations incumbent on beneficiaries under the conditions governing the grants, beneficiaries and Member States shall make every effort to implement the projects of common interest which receive Union financial aid granted under this Regulation.

Member States shall for projects related to transports and energy sectors, undertake the technical monitoring and financial control of actions in close cooperation with the Commission and shall certify the reality and the conformity of the expenditure incurred in respect of projects or parts of projects. The Member States may request the participation of the Commission during on-the-spot checks.

In the field of telecommunications in particular, the national regulatory authorities shall make every effort to ensure the required legal certainty and investment conditions facilitating the implementation of the projects receiving Union financial aid under this Regulation.

Member States shall inform the Commission continuously, if relevant through the interactive geographical and technical information systems, which in case of the trans-European Transport networks is TENtec, about the progress made in implementing projects of common interest and the investments made for this purpose including the amount of support used for climate change objectives.

Article 2 2 Compliance with Union policies and Union Law

Only actions in conformity with Union law and which are in line with relevant Union policies shall be financed under this Regulation.

Article 2 3 Protection of the Union's financial interests

1. The Commission shall take appropriate measures ensuring that, when actions financed under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Union are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by effective, proportional and deterrent penalties.

2. The Commission or its representatives and the Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and on-the-spot, over all grant beneficiaries, implementing bodies, contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds.

3. The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) shall be authorised to carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections on economic operators concerned directly or indirectly by such funding in accordance with the procedures laid down in Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities[46] with a view to establishing that there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant agreement or decision or a contract concerning Union funding.

4. Without prejudice to the previous paragraphs, cooperation agreements with third countries and international organisations and grant agreements and decisions and contracts resulting from the implementation of this Regulation shall expressly entitle the Commission, the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits, on-the-spot checks and inspections.

TITLE IIGENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 2 4 Committees

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Coordination Committee of the Facility. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

3. The committee shall ensure a horizontal overview of the work programmes referred in article 18 to ensure consistency and that synergies are identified and exploited between sectors.

Article 25 Exercise of delegation

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 20 shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 20 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 20 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Article 2 6 Evaluation

1. No later than mid-2018, an evaluation report shall be established by the Commission on the achievement of the objectives of all the measures (at the level of results and impacts), the efficiency of the use of resources and its European added value, in view of a decision on the renewal, modification or suspension of the measures. The evaluation shall additionally address the scope for simplification, its internal and external coherence, the continued relevance of all objectives, as well as the contribution of the measures to the Union priorities of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It shall take into account evaluation results on the long-term impact of the predecessor measures.

2. The Commission shall carry out ex-post evaluation in close cooperation with the Member States and beneficiaries. The ex-post evaluation shall examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the Connecting Europe Facility and its impact on economic, social and territorial cohesion as well as contribution to the Union priorities of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and the scale and results of support used for climate change objectives. The ex post evaluation shall feed into a decision on a possible renewal, modification or suspension of a subsequent measure.

3. Evaluations shall take account of progress against performance indicators as referred to in Article 3 and 4.

4. The Commission shall communicate the conclusions of these evaluations to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

5. The Commission and the Member States, assisted by the other possible beneficiaries, may undertake an evaluation of the methods of carrying out projects as well as the impact of their implementation, in order to assess whether the objectives, including those relating to environmental protection, have been attained.

6. The Commission may request a beneficiary Member State concerned by a project of common interest to provide a specific evaluation of the actions and the linked projects financed under this Regulation or, where appropriate, to supply it with the information and assistance required to undertake an evaluation of such projects.

Article 27 Information, communication and publicity

1. Beneficiaries and, where appropriate, Member States concerned shall ensure that suitable publicity is given to aid granted under this Regulation in order to inform the public of the role of the Union in the implementation of the projects.

2. The Commission shall implement information and communication actions on the Connecting Europe Facility projects and results. Moreover, budget allocated to communication under this Regulation shall also cover corporate communication on the political priorities of the Union[47].

Article 2 8 Transitional provisions

This Regulation shall not affect the continuation or modification, including the total or partial cancellation, of the projects concerned, until their closure, or of financial aid awarded by the Commission on the basis of Regulations (EC) 2236/95 and (EC) No 680/2007, or any other legislation applying to that assistance on 31 December 2013, which shall continue to apply to the actions concerned until their closure.

Article 29 Repeal

Without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Article 28 of this Regulation, Regulation (EC) No 680/2007 is repealed with effect from 1 January 2014.

Article 30 Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .

It shall apply from 1 January 2014.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, […]

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

ANNEX

PART I: LIST OF PRE-IDENTIFIED PROJECTS ON THE CORE NETWORK IN THE FIELD OF TRANSPORT

a) Horizontal Priorities |

Innovative Management & Services | Single European Sky - SESAR |

Innovative Management & Services | Traffic Management Systems for Road, Rail and Inland Waterways (ITS, ERTMS and RIS) |

Innovative Management & Services | Core Network Ports and Airports |

Core Network Corridors |

1. Baltic – Adriatic Corridor Helsinki – Tallinn – Riga – Kaunas – Warszawa – KatowiceGdynia – KatowiceKatowice – Ostrava – Brno – WienKatowice – Žilina – Bratislava – WienWien – Graz – Klagenfurt – Villach – Udine – Venezia – Bologna – Ravenna

Pre-identified sections | Mode | Description/dates |

Helsinki - Tallinn | Ports, MoS | port interconnections, (further) development of multimodal platforms and their interconnections, MoS (including icebreaking capacity) |

Tallinn - Riga - Kaunas - Warszawa | Rail | (detailed) studies for new UIC gauge fully interoperable line; works for new line to start before 2020; rail – airports/ports interconnections |

Gdynia - Katowice | Rail | upgrading |

Gdynia, Gdansk | Ports | port interconnections, (further) development of multimodal platforms |

Warszawa - Katowice | Rail | upgrading |

Katowice - Ostrava - Brno - Wien & Katowice - Žilina - Bratislava - Wien | Rail | upgrading, in particular cross-border sections PL-CZ, PL-SK and SK-AT; (further) development of multimodal platforms |

Wien - Graz - Klagenfurt - Udine - Venezia - Ravenna | Rail | upgrading and works ongoing; (further) development of multimodal platforms |

Trieste, Venice, Ravenna | Ports | port interconnections, (further) development of multimodal platforms |

2. Warszawa – Berlin – Amsterdam/Rotterdam – Felixstowe – Midlands BY border – Warzsawa – Poznań – Frankfurt/Oder – Berlin – Hannover – Osnabrück – Enschede – Utrecht