COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of 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: 2021-06-15
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

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 15.6.2021  COM(2021) 309 final 2018/0228 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of 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  
 
 
2018/0228 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of 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 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2018) 438 final – 2018/0228 COD): 

6 June 2018 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

19 September 2018 

Date of the opinion of the Committee of the Regions 

10 October 2018 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

17 April 2019 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

9 June 2021 

14 June 2021 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is one of the funding instruments under the 2021-2027 
Multiannual  Financial  Framework.  The  general  objective  of  the  CEF  is  to  develop  and 
modernise  the  trans-European  networks  in  the  fields  of  transport,  energy  and  digital  and  to 
facilitate cross-border cooperation in the field of renewable energy. 

For transport, CEF aims at contributing to the completion of the trans-European transport core 
network  by  2030  and  the  comprehensive  network  by  2050.  CEF  also  supports  the 
modernisation  of  the  TEN-T  network,  in  particular  the  deployment  of  alternatve  fuels 
infrastructure  and  digitalisation  of  transport.  In  addition,  civilian-military  dual-use  transport 
projects will be implemented through the CEF. 

For  energy,  the  focus  is  on  contributing  to  the  development  of  the  trans-European  energy 
networks  and  further  integration  of  the  internal  energy  market  and  interoperability  of 
networks  across  borders  and  sectors;  facilitating  the  cross-border  cooperation  in  the  area  of 
renewable  energy  and  enabling  decarbonisation  through  integrating  renewable  energy 
sources. 

EN 

1 

  EN 

 
 
 
For digital, CEF aims at contributing to the deployment of safe and secure very high capacity 
digital  networks  and  5G  systems  and  to  the  increased  resilience  and  capacity  of  digital 
backbone  networks  in  line  with  the  European  digital  connectiviy  objectives  for  2025  and 
2030. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The Council’s position at first reading, adopted on 14 June 2021, supports the main objectives 
of  the  Commission’s  proposal.  The  most  important  changes  introduced  compared  to  the 
Commission’s proposal include: 

Budgetary elements, co-financing rates 

New provisions were included in relation with the European Council Conclusions of 21 July 
2020 regarding specific support from the Heading 1(2), European Strategic Investment for the 
completion  of  missing  major  cross-border  railway  links  between  Cohesion  countries.  The 
Commission can support these provisions. 

The Commission can accept provisions specifying the allocation of Cohesion envelope which 
lay  down  the  dates  until  certain  thresholds  will  be  applicable:  (1)  for  the  Member  States 
whose gross national  income (GNI) per capita  measured in  purchasing power standards and 
calculated  on  the  basis  of  Union  figures  for  the  period  2015-2017  is  less  than  60%  of  the 
average GNI per capita of the EU-27, 70% of 70% of the amount they have transferred to the 
CEF  shall  be  guaranteed  until  31  December  2024;  (2)  until  31  December  2025,  the  total 
amount allocated to actions in a Cohesion Member State shall not exceed 170% of the share 
of that Member State in the total amount transferred from the Cohesion Fund. 

The Commission can accept the modification of the indicative percentages of the allocation of 
the  Cohesion  envelope,  which  sets  up  that  85%  of  the  envelope  will  be  used  for  actions 
relating to efficient, interconnected and multimodal networks and 15% of the envelope will be 
used for the actions relating to smart, sustainable, inclusive, safe and secure mobility. 

A  provision  in  the  transport  sector  setting  up  a  threshold  of  up  to  10%  of  the  General 
envelope,  which  can  be  used  for  blending  operations,  was  included.  A  provision  specifying 
that  the  Cohesion  envelope  shall  not  be  used  for  blending  operations  was  included.  The 
provisions  provide  for  flexibility  and 
these 
modifications. 

the  Commission  can  accept 

therefore 

A threshold was included indicating that up to 15% of the overall energy sector budget shall 
be  distributed  for  the  cross-border  projects  in  the  field  of  renewable  energy  with  the 
possibility to increase it up to 20%. The Commission can accept this amendment. 

A threshold was laid down that up to 1% of the overall budget may be used for the technical 
and administrative assistance. The Commission can accept this modification. 

EN 

2 

  EN 

 
The following amendments on the co-financing rates were included in the transport sector: for 
the  General  envelope,  actions  supporting  inland  waterways,  railway  interoperability,  and 
actions adapting the transport infrastructure for Union external border checks purposes were 
included  with  the  possibility  to  receive  higher  co-financing  rate  of  50%.  For  the  actions 
concerning the completion of missing major cross-border railway links between the Cohesion 
Member  States,  the  maximum  co-financing  rate  shall  be  85%.  The  co-financing  rate  for 
civilian-defence dual-use projects was laid down up to 50%. The maximum co-financing rate 
for  the  Cohesion  envelope  shall  not  exceed  85%.  A  possibility  to  increase  the  co-financing 
rate  by  5%  for  projects  carried  out  by  integrated  management  structures,  including  joint 
ventures,  was  included  for  both  the  General  and  Cohesion  envelopes.  For  actions 
implemented  in  the  outermost  regions,  the  maximum  co-financing  rate  was  increased  up  to 
70%  for  transport,  energy  and  digital  sectors,  and  for  the  actions  implemented  under  the 
synergy work programmes, the co-financing rate may be increased by 10%. The Commission 
can accept these modifications. 

Eligibility 

In  the  transport  sector,  the  eligibility  scope  of  actions  was  extended.  On  the  TEN-T  core 
network,  connections  to  airports  were  included.  On  the  TEN-T  comprehensive  network, 
maritime and inland ports as well as components of the comprehensive network located in the 
Member States which do not have a land border with another Member State were introduced. 
The Commission can accept these amendments.  

A new  article on the adaptation  of the TEN-T network to  the  civilian-defence dual-use was 
included which sets up the eligibility requirements of actions contributing to the development 
of  dual-use  infrastructure,  and  includes  an  implementing  act  which  determines  dual-use 
infrastructure requirements. A provision was included allowing the Commission to request a 
transfer  from  the  Military  Mobility  envelope  to  the  General  envelope  if  there  are  any 
uncommitted funds. The Commission can accept these amendments. 

Amendments in the indicative lists of transport core network corridors and cross-border links 
on the comprehensive network were made. The Commission can accept these modifications. 

A  provision  was  included  which  lays  down  that  the  costs  related  to  purchase  of  land  are 
eligible for the Cohesion envelope only in line with the Common Provisions Regulation. The 
Commission can accept this amendment.  

A new provision on a possibility to co-fund the Union renewable energy financing mechanism 
was included. The Commission can accept this amendment. 

A  new  cybersecurity  clause  was  introduced  for  the  digital  sector.  It  provides  that  for  all  or 
some  of  the  actions  under  the  specific  objectives  set  out  for  the  digital  sector,  calls  for 
proposals and calls for tenders can, for duly justified security reasons, be restricted to entities 
established,  or  deemed  to  be  established,  in  Member  States  and  directly  or  indirectly 
controlled by Member States, or by nationals of Member States. The Commission can support 
this amendment. 

Programming, grants, management of grant agreements 

A new provision on work programmes was included setting up that the first work programmes 
will  cover  the  calls,  their  topics  and  indicative  budget  for  the  first  three  years  as  well  as  a 
prospective  framework  for  the  remaining  period.  The  Commission  can  accept  this 
amendment. 

EN 

3 

  EN 

 
A provision was included in the energy sector concerning the projects of common interest and 
specific  targets  for  interconnections  and  synchronisation  of  electricity  systems  with  the  EU 
networks. The Commission can accept this amendment. 

The  provision  on  the  Member  States´  approval  with  the  submission  of  the  proposals  was 
further elaborated. A new provision, which enables to carry out project selection procedure in 
two  stages,  was  included.  The  list  of  the  award  criteria  the  Commission  needs  to  take  into 
account, to the extent applicable, was extended. A new article was included on granting of the 
Union  financial  assistance  which  sets  out  that  the  selection  decisions  shall  be  adopted  by 
implementing  acts  and  lays  down  further  obligations  for  the  implementation  of  the  grant 
agreements. The Commission can accept these amendments. 

A  provision  allowing  the  actions  which  have  been  awarded  with  the  Seal  of  Excellence 
certificate  to  receive  co-financing  under  the  Cohesion  Fund  was  retained.  The  Commission 
can accept this provision. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

In  general,  the  agreement  reached  preserves  the  objectives  of  the  Commission’s  initial 
proposal,  maintaining  the  level  of  ambition  but  allowing  the  flexibility  required  for  the 
implementation of the CEF. The Commission accepts the position taken by the Council. 

A joint declaration by the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on 
the implementation of the Connecting Europe Facility 2021-2027 was agreed (in the annex). 

Annex: 

“Joint declaration by the Council of the European Union and the European Commission 
on the implementation of the Connecting Europe Facility 2021-2027. 

In accordance with the European Council Conclusions of 21 July 2020, the Council and the 
Commission recall that, in the implementation of the Connecting Europe Facility 2021-2027, 
from the amount specified in Article 4(2), point (a)(i), of the CEF Regulation, an amount of 
EUR 1 384 000 000 (in 2018 prices) will be used for the completion of missing major cross-
border railway links between Member States eligible for funding from the Cohesion Fund.”  

EN 

4 

  EN