Regulation 2013/1316 - Connecting Europe Facility - Main contents

Summary of Legislation
Legislative text

1. Summary of Legislation

Connecting Europe Facility

SUMMARY OF:

Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 establishing the Connecting Europe Facility

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?

It establishes the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) which supports projects of common interest (that is, of interest to the EU as a whole) for infrastructure in the fields of:

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transport,
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telecommunications, and
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energy.

Its ultimate aim is to speed up investment in trans-European networks and to leverage funding from the public and private sectors.

It also sets out the amount of money to be made available from 2014 until 2020 and for which areas.

It has been amended several times, most recently:

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in 2017, by Regulation (EU) 2017/2396 in the context of the extension of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) (initially set up for 3 years) until the end of 2020; and
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in 2018, by Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 (the EU’s Financial Regulation) which introduced a new article introducing a blending facility*.

KEY POINTS

Helping to create sustainable economic growth

The European Commission sees creating efficient transport and energy infrastructure networks as a key way to boost growth and to strengthen confidence in the EU’s single market.

In particular, the CEF supports projects that aim to develop and build new infrastructure and services or upgrade existing infrastructure and services. One of its general objectives is to contribute to economic growth by developing modern and high-performing trans-European networks that take into account expected future traffic flows.

Sustainable development

Another general objective of the CEF is to help the EU reach its sustainable development targets (20 % cut in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels, 20 % increase in energy efficiency and raising the share of renewable energy to 20 % by 2020).

Transport sector to be the biggest beneficiary

The total budget for the CEF from 2014 to 2020 comes to around €33 billion. It is broken down as follows:

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around €26 billion for transport;
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around €1 billion for telecommunications; and
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around €6 billion on the energy sector.

Delegated acts

The Commission adopted 2 delegated acts supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 in relation to transport funding priorities:

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Regulation (EU) No 275/2014; and
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Regulation (EU) 2016/1649.

2017 amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013

Regulation (EU) 2017/2396 in amending the EFSI regulation (Regulation (EU) 2015/1017) extends the EFSI’s duration of the EFSI and introduces some technical enhancements. In addition, it amends the CEF regulation by transferring part of the CEF’s unspent budget, as well as money from the revenues and repayments from the CEF Debt Instrument and from the 2020 European Fund for Energy, Climate Change & Infrastructure (‘Marguerite Fund’ — a fund that invests in energy, renewables, transport and digital infrastructure) across to EFSI.

2018 amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013

Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 amended Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 introducing a new article (Article 16a) offering the possibility to establish CEF blending facilities for which all actions contributing to projects of common interest would be eligible to receive funding. The overall contribution to CEF blending facilities from the EU budget cannot exceed 10 % of the overall financial allocation to the CEF.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

It has applied since 1 January 2014.

BACKGROUND

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Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) — Financial Instruments (European Commission).

KEY TERMS

Blending facility: a cooperation arrangement set up between the Commission and development or other public finance institutions with a view to combining non-repayable forms of support and/or financial instruments and/or budgetary guarantees from the budget and repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, as well as from private-sector finance institutions and private-sector investors.

MAIN DOCUMENT

Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing the Connecting Europe Facility, amending Regulation (EU) No 913/2010 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 680/2007 and (EC) No 67/2010 (OJ L 348, 20.12.2013, pp. 129-171)

The successive amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Contents

1.

Summary of Legislation

2.

Legislative text