EU BUDGET MUST MATCH EUROPE’S TRANSPORT AMBITIONS
As EU leaders meet today in Brussels to discuss the EU’s next long-term budget, CLECAT calls on Member States to safeguard transport investment. CLECAT has joined a broad coalition of European transport organisations in a renewed appeal for funding that matches Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and security ambitions.
CLECAT regrets the Irish Presidency’s proposed cut to transport funding under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Its draft compromise on the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028–2034 reduces the Commission’s proposed overall budget by 8%, while cutting the CEF transport envelope, including military mobility, by around 11%, from EUR 45.8 billion to EUR 40.6 billion in 2025 prices.
CLECAT Director General Nicolette van der Jagt said: “With Member States pursuing a range of ambitions and defending different priorities, from competitiveness and cohesion to resilience, there is one sector that ticks all the necessary boxes: Europe’s transport sector. Safeguarding its funding is an investment in all these priorities.”
European businesses depend on reliable transport networks to connect suppliers, production sites and customers. Completing the Trans-European Transport Network and improving connections is essential to efficient supply chains, the energy transition and military mobility.
“Freight forwarders already face congested corridors, missing cross-border links and inadequate hinterland connections. Cutting investment would prolong these bottlenecks and increase costs for European businesses. Europe needs a transport budget that helps deliver its ambitions,” added Ms van der Jagt.
In their joint letter to EU Heads of State or Government, the transport organisations call on Member States to restore the CEF transport envelope at least to the level proposed by the Commission, reserve a minimum share for transport in the National and Regional Partnership Plans, and explicitly include transport in the European Competitiveness Fund. This support must complement dedicated infrastructure funding.
The appeal builds on the sector’s earlier Open Letter, co-signed by CLECAT, setting out the common case for stronger EU transport investment.
Read the joint letter to EU Heads of State or Government.