CEF

Connecting Europe Facility: grants to renew and improve European infrastructures

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Sustainable infrastructure

Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is a key funding instrument for more growth, jobs, and competitiveness in Europe. CEF supports projects that focus on the development and construction of new and modernised infrastructures in the transport, energy, and telecom sectors.

CEF programmes focus on sustainable investments in European infrastructure. The new CEF (2021 – 2027) will focus more on climate change, digital connectivity, and renewable electricity.

In short

CEF overview

For whom?

Governments (state, provinces, municipalities)

Companies (port, industrial, logistics and service companies)

When to apply

The current CEF Transport call closes on 18 January 2023.

CEF Transport AFIF currently has a rolling call for proposals which will remain in effect until 2023.

A new CEF Energy call is expected in 2023.

How much?

The budget for CEF Transport 2021-2027 is € 25.81 billion, this is divided into:

    • General envelope: € 12.83 billion
    • Cohesion envelope: € 11.29 billion (not for the Netherlands)
    • Military mobility: € 1.69 billion

The budget for CEF Energy 2021-2027 is € 5.84 billion.

The budget for CEF Digital 2021-2027 is € 2.07 billion.

For what?

Grant for research and development of modern infrastructure

Grant for improvement and renewal of transport, telecom and energy infrastructure in Europe

Overview of

CEF themes

CEF Transport

  • Shifting to innovative energy-efficient and low-carbon transport technologies
  • Making transport systems more sustainable and efficient
  • Solving missing links in the network
  • Removal of existing infrastructure bottlenecks
  • Better interconnection of the railway networks and transport services of the Member States
  • Improving cross-border infrastructure
  • Alternative Fuels Infrastructure facility (AFIF).

Read more about CEF Transport >

CEF Energy

  • Connecting, digitising and making energy systems smarter in Europe for a powerful energy network.

Read more about CEF Energy > 

CEF Digital (Telecom)

  • Improving digital connectivity
  • Creating very high-capacity broadband networks
  • Increasing the resilience and capability of backbone networks
  • Improving the digitalisation of transport and energy networks.

Meet the requirements

CEF conditions

Various terms of eligibility apply to this grant, including the following:

To be eligible for financial support under CEF, your project must be classified as a Project of Common Interest.

You can only submit a project if the country in which the project owner is located supports it.

Why this grant?

Purpose of CEF

The aim of CEF is to create a strong and sustainable Europe by promoting competitiveness and stimulating economic growth. To achieve this goal, CEF supports projects that improve or renew infrastructure in the transport, telecom, and energy sectors.

”The way in which we will travel and transport goods in the coming years is going to be more sustainable, and I am excited to be able to contribute to these physical changes. My perseverance in turning projects into a good-news story and bringing the right parties together is my main asset.”

Contact Simone Zwijnenberg →

Jeroen de Hosson

Project funding

How much CEF funding can you receive?

How much CEF funding can you get for a project? Depending on the nature of the project, you can be reimbursed for the following costs:

Studies or study projects with pilot activities: these are projects that prepare for large-scale implementation projects, so-called works. These projects generally receive a grant of 50% of the project costs.

Implementation projects: these receive grant percentages ranging from 30% to 50% of the project costs.

“EGEN support has been crucial in shaping and co-developing our 2 CEF Energy proposals under the Northern Lights project. Equinor, together with its partner companies Total and Shell, has set ambitious targets to create a robust CCS market in Europe by realizing an open-source CO2 transport & storage service. As part of this, we believe the two CEF applications are way above average projects in terms of innovativeness and aim to establish a completely new industry in Europe.

By bringing in their experience and insights from previous projects, as well as through their constant support in all aspects related to the proposal management and submission, EGEN has helped us to prepare 2 top-quality proposals that will also help us, and our consortium partners, to achieve our goals in the innovation-driven CCS domain.”

Per Sandberg
Senior advisor Business Development

“PNO consultants have adequate experience and up to date and relevant knowledge related to Horizon 2020  and the way to optimize success of grant applications,. They also understand the policy context and  SINTEF’s strategy and innovation objectives. This has resulted in a highly satisfactory collaboration between SINTEF and PNO.”

Stian Nygaard
Vice President EU Research and Innovation at SINTEF

Keep up to date

News

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CEF Transport call 2023 launched

CEF Transport call 2023 launched

On 26 September 2023, the brand-new CEF Transport call 2023 was published. With this grant round, the European Commission is looking for projects that will contribute to an efficient and interconnected multimodal transport system in Europe. The call, with a budget of...

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Contact

Want to know more about CEF?

How can we help you? Contact us or send us a message for a swift reply.

Email
info@egen.green

Phone number
+31 (0)88 838 13 81