Regions and cities have called for a stronger role in the next Connecting Europe Facility (2028-2034) to ensure that infrastructure investments are effectively implemented and better aligned with regional needs.
In recommendations adopted at a plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 7 May, they also stressed that increased investment in military mobility must deliver clear benefits for both regional connectivity and citizens.
As part of the debate on the EU’s long-term budget (2028-2034), regions and cities adopted an opinion drafted by Juraj Droba (SK/ECR), Chairman of the Bratislava Self-Governing region, welcoming the continuation of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) beyond 2027 and the proposed budget increase. The extra money is, they argued, needed to help complete the trans-European transport (TEN-T) and energy (TEN-E) networks and also to boost cross-border regional development, sustainable mobility, competitiveness and the EU single market. However, they warned that current investment needs in European transport infrastructure far exceed the available funding.
Regions and cities emphasised that most TEN-T and TEN-E projects are implemented at the territorial level, and local and regional authorities (LRAs) play a key role in ensuring projects are aligned with local realities. They called for LRAs to be involved throughout the programme cycle, from planning and project selection to implementation, governance and evaluation. The CoR also requested observer status in CEF committees to ensure that multi-level governance and territorial cohesion are fully reflected, noting that permitting, planning and infrastructure coordination are handled locally and that these directly affect project delivery.
CoR members underlined that CEF implementation must not undermine the EU’s economic, social and territorial cohesion objectives. To achieve this, infrastructure investments must better reflect territorial characteristics, such as remoteness, population sparsity and accessibility constraints, in award criteria, ensuring fair participation for geographically constrained regions.
Local and regional leaders backed the emphasis on cross-border infrastructure projects but stressed that projects that fill ‘missing links’ within individual countries should also be recognised as having a European added value. They also strongly regretted the absence of urban nodes as a dedicated objective, as bottlenecks in metropolitan areas prevent TEN-T corridors from functioning effectively.
The CoR supported the increased focus on military mobility. However, it stressed that dual-use investments must deliver clear civilian co-benefits, particularly for regional connectivity and resilience, remain territorially balanced, and not divert resources from cohesion objectives. Given that LRAs have responsibilities for permitting and spatial planning, members stated that they must be involved in the planning of dual‑use infrastructure (such as ports, airports, roads, and bridges), to balance security requirements with implementation realities.
The opinion called for a strengthened and well-targeted CEF in the next EU long-term budget (2028-2034), ensuring effective complementarity with National & Regional Partnership Plans and with cohesion policy, rather than competing with it.
Source: European Commission