European logistics infrastructure investment
Transport coalition urges EU to increase funding for transport infrastructure to reinforce Europe’s industrial competitiveness
A coalition of 45 European transport organisations, including the Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG), the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) and the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services (CLECAT), have issued an open letter to the European Commission and EU member states, encouraging them to increase the budget for improving transport infrastructure.
The Connecting Europe Facility was established to support the EU’s trans-European transport network (TEN-T) policy
European Commission
The letter’s signatories called upon the European Commission
and EU member states to “ensure sufficient EU budget for transport under the
future Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) and particularly to increase the
budget of the future Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to at least €100 billion
($117.7 billion)”.
They highlighted rising geopolitical and economic tensions,
along with climate change, as some of the challenges they believe it is
essential to address through ensuring a resilient, well-integrated and
interconnected European transport network.
The letter outlines the time-critical nature of this concern,
noting that action must be taken now to address bottlenecks, improve climate
change preparedness and improve overall resilience.
“Europe’s
competitiveness and resilience depend on a modern, well-connected transport
infrastructure network,” said Frank Schnelle, executive director of ECG. “The finished
vehicle logistics sector relies on efficient road, rail, maritime and inland
waterway links to keep automotive supply chains functioning smoothly across
borders, connecting automotive manufacturers to their key markets.”
“Persistent underinvestment has created clear capacity and connectivity gaps,” he added. “Strengthening the Connecting Europe Facility is essential to close these gaps, enhance mobility, military mobility included and ensure that Europe’s transport corridors are fit for the future. ECG stands ready to support this effort.”
The transport coalition stated that creating an efficient transport
network that effectively connects current and future production sites with
their markets will be vital to Europe’s ambition to “boost its industrial competitiveness
and become a leader in the shift to a net-zero economy”.
“Transport is the backbone, enabler and accelerator of the
EU internal market,” the organisations wrote in the letter.
The EU’s Multi-Annual Financial Framework and Connecting Europe Facility
The Multi-Annual Financial
Framework is the EU’s long-term budget plan. It sets out how much money the EU will
spend and what it intends to prioritise over a period of at least five years. The
current MMF spans 2021 to 2027, and discussions are beginning around the next
MMF, which will cover spending from 2028 to 2034.
Transport infrastructure was
identified as a key spending priority when the current MMF was agreed in 2021. The
Connecting Europe Facility, an EU funding instrument to support investment in transport
infrastructure, was established. The CEF was allocated funds amounting to €25.8
billion ($30.4 billion) and a total of €11.3 billion was earmarked for
countries eligible to receive support from the Cohesion Fund.
The core objective of the CEF
was to support the EU’s trans-European transport network (TEN-T) policy, an
instrument for planning and developing a coherent, efficient, multimodal and
high-quality transport infrastructure across the EU. The CEF aimed to connect Europe,
focusing on missing links and cross-border projects with an EU added value.
From the period of 2014 to 2020,
CEF Transport awarded €23.2 billion ($27.4 billion) in grants to co-finance
projects of common interest, out of which €11.3 billion ($13.3 billion) was
transferred from the Cohesion Fund.
Looking ahead, the 45 European
transport organisations that signed this open letter are urging EU
decision-makers to increase the funding allocated to the CEF to more than €100
billion.
EU budget discussions
The letter was published on February 19, 2026, ahead of the EU
General Affairs Council, during which discussions on the MFF were due to take
place. The 2028-2034 MFF was listed on the agenda of this meeting, as preparations
started for the European Council meeting in March. The General Affairs Council's upcoming public debate on the MFF will be held on 17 March.
