COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Connecting Europe Facility and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1316/2013 and (EU) No 283/2014
Date: 2018-06-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: EU financial instrument, EU programme, energy grid, investment, project of common interest, structural policy, sustainable development, trans-European network, transmission network, transport network

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 6.6.2018  SWD(2018) 313 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Connecting Europe Facility and repealing Regulations (EU)  No 1316/2013 and (EU) No 283/2014  {COM(2018) 438 final} - {SEC(2018) 292 final} - {SWD(2018) 312 final}  
 
 
The Commission proposal is based on an Impact Assessment (IA) submitted to the Regulatory 
Scrutiny Board on 21 March 2018 and for which the Board issued a positive opinion (ref. 
number "MFF – CEF") with reservations. The Board in particular recommended reinforcing 
the description of the arrangements for monitoring and evaluation of the programme, 
explaining better the coherency with other EU programmes and explaining in more detail how 
the extensions of the programme's scope reinforce the cross-border character of CEF. The 
recommendations provided by the Board in its opinion have been reflected in the final version 
of the IA report.  

In line with the general approach applied for all the MFF-related impact assessments, the IA 
for CEF focused on the changes and policy choices foreseen in the legislative proposal. The 
report in particular explained the structure and priorities for the proposed continuation of the 
CEF programme and looked into the options for a most optimal delivery.  
The IA report drew on lessons learned and experience from the current CEF with the recent 
mid-term evaluation of  CEF used as the principle source of data (in addition to the results of 
the open public consultation organised as part of a series of public consultations covering the 
entire spectrum of EU future funding and of more targeted exchanges with stakeholders in 
case of synergies and renewables).  

Using the lessons learned and considering the new challenges and developments (in particular 
in the area of the digital sector) it was assessed whether the objectives needed to be adjusted 
for the continued programme. The challenges ahead for the new CEF programme were set out 
and the assessment was carried out on how CEF could deliver on the common objectives of 
the MFF such as simplification, greater flexibility and improved performance.  
The structure and priorities, the calibration with the current CEF as well as the expected 
delivery mechanism of the new programme were further discussed from the perspective of the 
programme effectively attaining the set objectives. Alternative implementation options were 
assessed in particular for the extensions to the programme’s scope of intervention, both in the 
digital pillar and for the Renewable Projects of European Interest. The IA also looked into 
options and capacities for reinforcing synergies between the sectors under the programme. 

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