On 8 October, the Transport and Industry Committees of the European Parliament approved the compromise text on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Regulation, which is the EU's new funding mechanism for infrastructure projects of common interest for trans-European transport, energy and telecoms networks, ESPO said in a press release.
The agreement is still subject to approval by the full European Parliament, which is, in principle, taking place during the second Plenary session of October. The Council will then approve the Parliament’s position in the following weeks, by the end of November. The new Regulation will then enter into force after its publication in the EU Official Journal and it will apply from 1 January 2014.
CEF will have a budget of about € 29.3 billion for the period 2014-2020 (at 2011 prices), with €23.17 billion earmarked for transport projects out of which €10 billion from the Cohesion Fund is going to be used exclusively in Member States that are eligible for Cohesion Fund. These figures are the result of the European Council agreement of 7 and 8 February 2013. The Parliament already backed the agreement with a resolution, so it is expected that the vote on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) Regulation in Autumn will be positive.