Railways welcome strong signal from European Parliament for more ambitious and predictable MFF funding

Railways welcome strong signal from European Parliament for more ambitious and predictable MFF funding

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) welcomes the forward-looking vision for the EU's next long-term budget endorsed by the European Parliament. With the adoption of its Interim Report on the proposal for the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), Parliament sends an important signal to the EU Council about the scale of investment needed to build up European competitiveness and resilience for the years ahead.

CER commends the EU Parliament's call for a meaningful increase in the overall size of the MFF, as well as its insistence on a sufficient share of resources directed towards future-oriented and predictable investments. This is essential for the transport sector, where planning and delivery cycles span many years.

Parliament's call to reinforce key EU funding instruments - notably the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and Horizon Europe - is fundamental. The transport sector has been clear that a CEF of at least €100 billion will be required to meet Europe's strategic infrastructure needs. Effective coordination between funds is equally imperative. If CEF is to focus primarily on cross-border infrastructure, then complementary and coherent funding for the wider transport network must be ensured under National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP) and the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF).

A fully interoperable and digitalised railway system is of particular importance at a time when large-scale, energy-efficient mobility is in high demand for industrial competitiveness, crisis preparedness, and regional cohesion. Europe's projected high-speed rail network and enhanced integration with more local connections is set to increase citizens' access to the opportunities offered by a reinvigorated EU single market. Rail investment is also one of the most effective levers to reduce oil consumption in transport, strengthening Europe's energy security.

CER Executive Director Alberto Mazzola said: "CER thanks the European Parliament for setting out a strong, future-oriented investment vision with this Interim Report and the positions taken on the Connecting Europe Facility. We detect worrying developments however in certain MFF legislative dossiers, namely the European Competitiveness Fund, where MEPs seem to downgrade the importance of rail investments. It must be made clear that solutions like rail are at hand to deliver a more efficiently connected continent, but to do so we must rely on stable funding. Railways look forward to seeing a consistent level of ambition as EU decision-makers continue their work to define the specific funding tools in the MFF arsenal."

Download below the press release.