Military mobility: The European Union supports strategic investments on dual-use transport infrastructure with EUR 807 million

The European Commission supports with EUR 807 million 38 projects that will upgrade key transport infrastructure in the EU to dual use, for both civilian and defence purposes. The projects were selected among the applications submitted under the third call for proposals in the field of military mobility published under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The European Commission, assisted by CINEA, accelerated this CEF Transport call, in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

EU Commissioner for Transport Adina-Ioana Vălean said: “The results of the third and final military mobility call under CEF Transport show that there is a clear need for Member States to improve the dual use of our transport system. We received 112 proposals, which means a 4.5 times oversubscription, and we have selected projects from 18 Member States. All the funded projects will contribute to a better European infrastructure and will complete the missing links, for both military and civilian use.”

Her comments were echoed by the Director of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), Paloma Aba Garrote, who stated: “Europe needs dual use transport infrastructure to enhance its military mobility and these new 38 projects will improve strategic infrastructure along both the TEN-T network and the EU military network and contribute to the security and defence of our continent.”

This is the third and last call for proposals in the field of military mobility that CINEA launched in accordance with the amended 2021-2027 CEF Transport Work Programme. The call was launched on 3 May 2023. In total, 112 proposals were submitted by the deadline of 21 September 2023 with an oversubscription rate of 4.7 times the available budget. 
 
In line with the Action plan on military mobility 2.0, these CEF funded projects will adapt parts of the EU military network and TEN-T network to the requirements on higher dimensions and capacity for both civilian and defence purposes. 

Some examples of projects under this call include the construction and upgrade of railways, the upgrade of road sections of the network and the enhancement of dual-use infrastructure in maritime ports, airports, and inland waterways. 

The total budget of the CEF Military Mobility envelope has now been fully consumed following the selection of these 38 projects under this call for proposals.  

Background

Under the MFF 2021-2027, a specific budget of EUR 1.74 billion was allocated to enhance military mobility across EU. It is implemented through the Connecting Europe Facility. The entire amount was frontloaded in the period 2021-2023 through three calls for proposals managed by CINEA.  Under the first and second call for proposals in 2021 and 2022, 57 projects receiving EUR 939 million were selected for funding and are now being implemented across the EU. The third and final call for proposals results in the selection of 38 projects receiving EUR 807 million. 

The EU’s financial contribution takes the form of grants co-financing 50% of the total eligible costs of the project.

Next steps 

Following the EU Member States’ approval of these 38 projects, the Commission will officially adopt the financing decision and CINEA will then start the preparation of the grant agreements with the beneficiaries. 

The award of the grant to these projects will only become definitive once the European Commission adopts the corresponding award decision. Further financing opportunities are available in CEF Transport with the 2023 CEF Transport call for proposals open until 30 January 2024. 

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