A total of 45 European transport organisations are joining forces and collectively urge national governments to strengthen European funding for transport under the future EU budget and particularly to increase the budget of the future Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to at least €100 billion.

A robust European transport network is of crucial importance in responding to Europe’s strategic objectives. Only with strong and state-of-the-art transport infrastructure at its core, will Europe be able to ramp up its resilience and military preparedness, reinforce its industrial competitiveness and safeguard its supply chain sovereignty. The sector stands ready to deliver, but cannot do so without adequate support.

While the ambitions and the investment needs are high, the sector continues to struggle with pressing underfunding and financing gaps. This trend of continued underfunding of the transport sector must be reversed and the EU Member States must set the bar high.

As such, if Europe is to succeed in its strategic priorities of a strong, resilient and competitive Union, it needs a robust European transport network providing the necessary fundament. This must be reflected in the future EU budget. With another round of discussions on the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034 coming up during the General Affairs Council taking place on 24 February, all the signatory European transport organisations in an open letter ask the General Affairs and Finance Ministers to safeguard sufficient EU budget for transport under the future MFF and particularly strengthen the future CEF instrument. European support to the sector is now more pertinent than ever.

“If the EU transport sector including ports is the circulatory system of the EU economy, then the TEN-T is the planned vascular network designed to keep that system efficient, integrated, and resilient. The Core Network (main arteries – strategic corridors) and the Comprehensive Network (smaller veins – regional connections) are all crucial” states Ms Lamia Kerdjoudj, Secretary General of FEPORT.

“If arteries or veins are blocked (e.g., congestion, war, infrastructure gaps, inadequate superstructure), the entire system weakens and suffocate. Our call to Member States is therefore solemn. It is a plea to grant the EU the means to remain competitive and well prepared to face the geopolitical tensions shaking the world” underlines FEPORT Secretary General.

“It is important that we learn lessons from recent crises but also leverage on our strengths such as the TEN-T network which needs more investments to remain an engine for growth and resilience” concludes Ms Lamia Kerdjoudj.
Source: FEPORT