News 30 Jan 2018

The future of transport investments - What MFF do we need?

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) calls upon policymakers to increase the CEF transport budget in the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in order to contribute to the huge financial needs of the transport sector. The resources allocated to rail transport in the next MFF will play a key role in ensuring that the transport system as a whole efficiently supports the EU’s economic growth. 

In order to remain competitive and continue meeting the expectations of its customers, the rail sector requires significant investments in the following priorities:

  • enhancements to the existing rail network with a focus on projects that have an EU added value and which support the TEN-T policy objectives 
  • building new infrastructure, in particular the construction of cross-border sections and missing links, multimodal connecting points, and the removal of bottlenecks 
  • projects supporting the transformation of operations, in particular ERTMS, leading to important performance and productivity gains
  • providing a significantly larger and adequate budget for Shift2Rail2 to be established as an evolution of the successful Shift2Rail Joint Undertaking
  • projects supporting rail freight services, the reduction of transport noise and seamless mobility and accessibility for all users, including persons of reduced mobility

Considerable financial resources will be required to complete the TEN-T rail network as well as to modernise and digitalise rail infrastructure in Europe for the benefit of Europe’s citizens. The European Commission estimates that €750 billion is needed to realise the core network from 2016 to 2030. 

So, what MFF do we need? CER, in cooperation with the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, invites you to join the debate on Wednesday 31 January 2018 as of 18.30 during a roundtable on the future of transport financing in the context of the discussions on the next MFF.

Keynote speakers:

  • Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport
  • Velik Zanchev, Deputy Minister for Transport of the Bulgarian Government

Discussion panel: 

  • Dominique Riquet, MEP (ALDE, FR), Transport and Tourism Committee
  • Alessandro Carano, Expert in the Cabinet of Violeta Bulc 
  • Hristo Alexiev, Bulgarian National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRIC)
  • Philippe Citroën, UNIFE Director General

CER Executive Director Libor Lochman said: “Rail has a positive impact on the EU’s economy and contributes to EU policy objectives by being the greenest and safest mode of transport. At the same time, the rail sector has enormous investment needs to continue modernising and digitalising Europe’s rail infrastructure and to keep investing in cross-border rail projects with high EU added-value. This will lead to benefits for Europe’s economy, environment and its citizens.”