Connecting Europe: The new EU core transport network

The Commission has adopted, on October 19th, a proposal to transform the existing patchwork of European roads, railways, airports and canals into a unified transport network (TEN-T). The new core network will remove bottlenecks, upgrade infrastructure and streamline cross border transport operations for passengers and businesses throughout the EU. It will improve connections between different modes of transport and contribute to the EU’s climate change objectives. The normal co-financing rates for TEN-T projects on the core network will be up to 50% EU co-financing for studies, for works up to 20% (for example exploratory works for a major tunnel, there are certain possibilities to increase co-financing for cross-border projects for rail and inland waterway connections (up to 40%) and for certain ITS projects, like ERTMS, higher co-financing of up to 50% can be made available to support Member States making the transition.