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CLECAT welcomes the European Commission’s final call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport, making available € 1.1 billion in EU funding published last week. As the last funding opportunity before the next Multiannual Financial Framework, the call provides important support for investments that will strengthen Europe’s transport infrastructure, accelerate decarbonisation and digitalisation, and improve the resilience of European supply chains.

The call includes funding for several priorities of direct relevance to the freight-forwarding and logistics sector:

• € 130 million for alternative fuels infrastructure in the aviation and road transport sectors through the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF);
• € 130 million for Military Mobility projects, supporting the adaptation of transport infrastructure for dual civilian and military use;
• € 20 million for digitalisation, new technologies and innovation in road transport;
• € 20 million to improve transport infrastructure at the EU's external borders, helping reduce congestion, improve border-crossing procedures, and strengthen Europe's connectivity with neighbouring countries.
• € 610 million for projects on the of the Trans-European Transport Network’s (TEN-T) Core Network Corridors, focusing on rail and inland waterways.
• Of this amount, € 260 million come from the Cohesion Fund and is earmarked specifically for rail projects.
• € 200 million for the European Maritime Space and inland ports, reflecting the objectives of the EU's Maritime and Port Strategies.

CLECAT particularly commends the continued support for the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure through AFIF. The programme places particular emphasis on publicly accessible electric and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) along the TEN-T network and in urban nodes, including high-power and megawatt charging systems. It also covers the essential enabling infrastructure required to bring these projects into operation, such as grid connections, battery storage, and energy management systems. Charging facilities at safe and secure truck parking areas, as well as publicly accessible installations at logistics centres and operator-owned sites that comply with AFIR requirements, are also eligible.

Applications for the final CEF Transport call are open until 6 October 2026.

Source: European Commission