Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2021 establishing the Connecting Europe Facility and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1316/2013 and (EU) No 283/2014 (Text with EEA relevance)

• — 85 % for the actions listed in Article 9(2), point (a): “Actions relating to efficient, interconnected, interoperable and multimodal networks”;

• — 15 % for the actions listed in Article 9(2), point (b): “Actions relating to smart, interoperable, sustainable, multimodal, inclusive, accessible, safe and secure mobility”.

For the actions listed in Article 9(2), point (a), 85 % of the budgetary resources should be allocated to actions on the core network and 15 % to actions on the comprehensive network.

PART III

CROSS-BORDER AND MISSING LINKS

• 1. Indicative lists of pre-identified cross-border links and missing links

• 2.Indicative list of pre-identified cross-border links on the comprehensive network

• The cross-border sections of the comprehensive network referred to in Article 9(2), point (a)(ii), include notably the following sections:

• 3.Components of the comprehensive network located in Member States which do not have a land border with another Member State.

PART IV

SELECTION OF CROSS-BORDER PROJECTS IN THE FIELD OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

• 1.Objective of cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy

• Cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy shall promote cross-border cooperation between Member States in the field of planning, development and the cost-effective exploitation of renewable energy sources, as well as facilitate their integration through energy storage facilities and with the aim of contributing to the Union’s long term decarbonisation strategy.

• 2.General criteria

• In order to qualify as a cross-border project in the field of renewable energy, a project shall meet all of the following general criteria:

• (a) the project shall be included in a cooperation agreement or any other kind of arrangement between two or more Member States or between one or more Member States and one or more third countries as set out in Articles 8, 9, 11 and 13 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001;

• (b) the project shall provide cost savings in the deployment of renewable energy or benefits for system integration, security of supply or innovation, or both, in comparison to a similar project or renewable energy project implemented by one of the participating Member States alone;

• (c) the potential overall benefits of cooperation outweigh its costs, including in the longer term, as assessed on the basis of the cost-benefit analysis as referred to in point 3 of this Part and applying the methodologies referred to in Article 7(2) of this Regulation.

• 3.Cost-benefit analysis

• (a) energy generation costs;

• (b) system integration costs;

• (c) support costs;

• (d) greenhouse gas emissions;

• (e) security of supply;

• (f) air and other local pollution, such as effects on local nature and the environment;

• (g) innovation.

• 4.Procedure

• (a) Promoters, including Member States, of a project that is potentially eligible for selection as a cross-border project in the field of renewable energy under a cooperation agreement or any other kind of arrangement between two or more Member States or between one or more Member States and one or more third countries as set out in Articles 8, 9, 11 and 13 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and that seeks to obtain the status of cross-border project in the field of renewable energy, shall submit an application for selection as a cross-border project in the field of renewable energy to the Commission. The application shall include the relevant information to allow the Commission to evaluate the project against the criteria laid down in points 2 and 3 of this Part, in line with the methodologies referred to in Article 7(2) of this Regulation. The Commission shall ensure that promoters are given the opportunity to apply for the status of cross-border project in the field of renewable energy at least once a year.

• (b) The Commission shall set up and chair a group for cross-border-projects in the field of renewable energy, composed of one representative of each Member State and one from the Commission. The group shall adopt its own rules of procedure.

• (c) At least once a year, the Commission shall organise the process for selection as cross-border projects. Following the evaluation of the projects, the Commission shall submit to the group referred to in point (b) of this point a list of eligible projects in the field of renewable energy that comply with the criteria set out in Article 7 and in point (d) of this point.

• (d) The group referred to in point (b) shall be given relevant information, unless commercially sensitive, on the eligible projects included in the list submitted by the Commission regarding the following criteria:
• (i) a confirmation of the compliance with the eligibility and selection criteria for all projects;
• (ii) information on the cooperation mechanism that a project pertains to and information regarding the extent to which a project has the support of one or several Member States;
• (iii) description of the objective of the project, including the estimated capacity (in kW) and, where available, renewable energy production (in kWh per annum), as well as the total project costs and eligible costs referred, in euro;
• (iv) information on the expected Union added value in accordance with point 2, (b), of this Part and on the expected costs and benefits and the expected Union added value in accordance with point 2, (c), of this Part.

• (e) The group may invite to its meetings, as appropriate, promoters of eligible projects, representatives of third countries involved in eligible projects and any other relevant stakeholders.

• (f) On the basis of the evaluation results, the group shall agree on a draft list of cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy, to be adopted in accordance with point (g).

• (g) The Commission shall adopt the final list of selected cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy by delegated act on the basis of a draft list referred to in point (f) and taking into account point (i). The Commission shall also publish on its website the list of selected cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy. That list shall be reviewed as necessary and at least every two years.

• (h) The group shall monitor the implementation of the projects on the final list and make recommendations on how to overcome possible delays in their implementation. For this purpose, project promoters of the selected projects shall provide information on the implementation of their projects.

• (i) The Commission shall, when selecting the cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy, aim to ensure an appropriate geographical balance in the selection of such projects. Regional groupings may be used for the selection of projects.

• (j) A project shall not be selected as a cross-border project in the field of renewable energy, or, if selected, shall have such status withdrawn, if information which was a determining factor in the evaluation, was incorrect, or if the project does not comply with Union law.

PART V

DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS OF COMMON INTEREST

• 1.Gigabit connectivity, including 5G systems and other state-of-the-art connectivity, for socioeconomic drivers.

• Actions shall be prioritised taking into account the function of the socioeconomic drivers, the relevance of the digital services and applications enabled by providing the underlying connectivity, and the potential socioeconomic benefits to citizens, business and local communities, including the additional area coverage generated in terms of households. The available budget shall be allocated in a geographically balanced manner across Member States.

• Priority shall be given to actions contributing to Gigabit connectivity, including 5G systems and other state-of-the-art connectivity, for:

• (a) hospitals and medicals centres, in line with the efforts to digitalise the healthcare system, with a view to increasing the well-being of Union citizens and changing the way health and care services are delivered to patients;

• (b) education and research centres, in the context of the efforts to facilitate the use, inter alia, of high-speed computing, cloud applications and big data, close digital divides and to innovate in education systems, to improve learning outcomes, enhance equity and improve efficiency;

• (c) uninterrupted 5G wireless broadband coverage to all urban areas by 2025.

• 2.Wireless connectivity in local communities

• Actions that aim to provide local wireless connectivity in centres of local public life, including outdoor spaces accessible to the general public that play a major role in the public life of local communities, shall fulfil the following conditions in order to receive funding:

• (a) they are implemented by a public sector body as referred to in the second paragraph, which is capable of planning and supervising the installation, as well as ensuring for a minimum of three years the financing of operating costs, of indoor or outdoor local wireless access points in public spaces;

• (b) they build on very high capacity digital networks enabling the delivery of very high-quality internet experience to users that:
• (i) is free of charge and without discriminatory conditions, easy to access, secured and uses most recent and best available equipment, and is capable of delivering high-speed connectivity to its users; and
• (ii) supports widespread and non-discriminatory access to innovative digital services;

• (c) they use the common visual identity to be provided by the Commission and link to the associated multi-lingual online tools;

• (d) in view of achieving synergies and increasing capacity and improving user experience, they facilitate the deployment of 5G ready small-area wireless access points, as defined in Directive (EU) 2018/1972; and

• (e) they commit to procure the necessary equipment and/or related installation services in accordance with applicable law to ensure that projects do not unduly distort competition.

• Union financial support shall be available to public sector bodies as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0008]) undertaking to provide, in accordance with national law, local wireless connectivity that is free of charge and without discriminatory conditions through the installation of local wireless access points.

• Funded actions shall not duplicate existing free private or public offers of similar characteristics, including quality, in the same public space.

• The available budget shall be allocated in a geographically balanced manner across Member States.

• Wherever relevant, coordination and coherence will be ensured with the actions supported by the CEF that promote access of socioeconomic drivers to very high capacity networks capable of providing Gigabit connectivity, including 5G systems and other state-of-the-art connectivity.

• 3.Indicative list of 5G corridors and cross-border backbone connections eligible for funding

• In line with the Gigabit society objectives set out by the Commission to ensure that major terrestrial transport paths have uninterrupted 5G coverage by 2025, actions implementing uninterrupted coverage with 5G systems pursuant to Article 9(4), point (c), include, as a first step, actions on the cross-border sections for connected automated mobility (CAM) experimentation, and, as a second step, actions on more extensive sections in view of a larger scale deployment of CAM along the corridors, as indicated in the table below (indicative list). The TEN-T corridors are used as a basis for this purpose, but the deployment of 5G is not necessarily confined to those corridors ([^E0009]).

• Furthermore, actions supporting deployment of backbone networks, including with submarine cables across Member States and between the Union and third countries or connecting European islands, pursuant to Article 9(4), point (d), are also supported in order to provide necessary redundancy for such vital infrastructure, and to increase the capacity and resilience of the Union’s digital networks.

[^E0001]: The financial envelope of the CEF for the period 2021-2027 in constant 2018 prices is EUR 29 896 000 000 and is distributed as follows: (a) transport: EUR 22 884 000 000 , of which (i) EUR 11 384 000 000 from the MFF 2021-2027, Heading 1(2), European Strategic Investment; (ii) EUR 10 000 000 000 transferred from the Cohesion Fund; (iii) EUR 1 500 000 000 from the MFF 2021-2027, Heading 5(13), Defence; (b) energy: EUR 5 180 000 000 ; (c) digital: EUR 1 832 000 000 .

[^E0002]: Regulation (EU) 2021/523 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 March 2021 establishing the InvestEU Programme and amending Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 (OJ L 107, 26.3.2021, p. 30).

[^E0003]: Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 60, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1058/oj).

[^E0004]: Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 establishing the Just Transition Fund (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/1056/oj).

[^E0005]: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1328 of 10 August 2021 specifying the infrastructure requirements applicable to certain categories of dual-use infrastructure actions pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 288, 11.8.2021, p. 37, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2021/1328/oj).

[^E0006]: Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L, 2024/2509, 26.9.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj).

[^E0007]: EUR 1 384 000 000 in 2018 prices.

[^E0008]: Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (OJ L 327, 2.12.2016, p. 1).

[^E0009]: Sections in italics are located outside of the TEN-T core network corridors but included in the 5G corridors.