Moscow, Jul 7 (FN Bureau) The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the upgraded Connecting Europe Facility, a funding instrument for strategic investment in transport, energy, and digital infrastructure worth 30 billion euros ($35 billion), with 60% of funds earmarked for climate-related projects in member states. “The upgraded Connecting Europe Facility programme, agreed between Parliament and Council in March and worth €30 billion for 2021 to 2027, will fund transport, energy and digital projects with an EU added value,” the EU legislature said in a release.
The program allocated 23 billion euros to transport projects, 5 billion euros to energy projects, and 2 billion euros to digital projects. About 10 billion euros was allocated to cross-border transport to help EU countries complete previously identified missing transport links, another 1.4 billion euros will be spent on fast tracking the completion of major missing cross-border railway projects. “MEPs succeeded in earmarking 60 percent of CEF funds for projects that help achieve the EU’s climate objectives, while 15 percent of energy pillar funds will go to cross-border renewable energy projects,” the news release read.
The new fund will cover such “essential Trans-European” projects as the Rail Baltica railroad linking the Baltic countries to Finland and Poland, the infrastructure for alternative fuels charging, and the launch of 5G connectivity along important transport routes.