Connecting Europe Facility - Performance

Programme in a nutshell

Concrete examples of achievements (*)

^{(*) Key achievements in the table state which period they relate to. Many come from the implementation of the predecessor programmes under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework. This is expected and is due to the multiannual life cycle of EU programmes and the projects they finance, where results often follow only after completion of the programmes.}

^{(**) Trans-European Transport Network}

Budget for 2021-2027

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Rationale and design of the programme

The Connecting Europe Facility programme is a key EU funding instrument for boosting investments across the EU in transport, energy and digital infrastructure projects aiming at greater connectivity between EU Member States.

Budget

Budget programming (million EUR):

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Financial programming:
+ EUR 9 300.0 million (+ 45%)
compared to the legal basis*

^{* Top-ups pursuant to Article 5 of the multiannual financial framework regulation are excluded from financial programming in this comparison. Contribution from the Cohesion Fund to the Connecting Europe Facility is excluded from financial programming in this comparison.}

• The implementation of the CEF Transport strand is mostly in line with the financial programming included above. Nevertheless, it is to be noted that the CEF Transport has contributed with EUR 250 million to the Chips Act Initiative launched by the Commission and also supported additional needs for administrative expenditure resulting from the initiatives tabled by the Commission in the framework of the ‘Fit for 55’ package, in particular Fuel EU Maritime and ReFuel EU Aviation. 
• For CEF Energy, there is no variation in the financial programming’s total. However, the programme was backloaded with the reprogramming of EUR 430 million toward the end of this MFF period, instrumented by a temporary transfer of 2023 CEF Energy commitment appropriations to CEF Transport.  
• For CEF Digital, compared to the reference amounts in the legal base, EUR 150 million have been transferred to the Chips Act and EUR 110 million to the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) initiative (for the 2024-2026 period). 

Budget performance – implementation

Multiannual cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):

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Annual voted budget implementation (million EUR)⁽¹⁾:

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Contribution to horizontal priorities

Green budgeting

Contribution to green budgeting priorities (million EUR):

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• The first CEF Transport calls for proposals were launched in September 2021 and 2022 and the Commission selected projects respectively amounting to more than EUR 5.4 billion and EUR 6.9 billion, including for military mobility. The projects mainly aimed at completing the railway and inland waterway infrastructure along the trans-European transport network and support the take-up of alternative fuels through the co-funding of charging infrastructure, hence contributing to the Green Deal agenda for the decarbonisation of the transport sector. As a result, appropriations committed to the co-funding of these projects correspond to around 75% of the overall Transport strand allocation. Considering the similar nature of the ongoing 2023 Transport call and future 2024 calls, the same share of climate-related commitment appropriations is estimated for the years to come in the transport sector. 
• Moreover, the programme contributes to clean-air objectives through investments in sustainable transport infrastructure relating to railways, inland waterways and maritime ports, through the contribution to the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure for all transport modes and through support to multimodal passenger hubs in urban areas. Overall, 35% of the transport strand budget contributed to clean-air related projects in 2023, which is comparable to previous years. As mentioned above, more than 70% of CEF II (the current programme phase) Transport funding is dedicated to the development of the railway infrastructure (more than EUR 9.5 billion) and the deployment of the alternative fuels infrastructure (more than EUR 900 million) on the trans-European transport network. Similarly, under CEF I (the previous programme phase), around 70% of the total budget was allocated to improve the railway infrastructure. The development of electrified railway infrastructure, including associated signalling subsystems, along with the deployment of infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles, like electric charging points, and the installation of shore-side electricity for ships at berth are all taxonomy-aligned activities. 
• The programme’s Energy strand contributes to climate performance by supporting electricity, smart grid and carbon dioxide transport infrastructure and cross-border projects in the field of renewable energy, which account for a 100% climate-tracking coefficient. The programme’s Energy work programme for 2021-2027 is expected to contribute to the achievement of at least 60% of the overall financial envelope of the programme supporting climate objectives. 
• Based on the climate-tracking contribution of the Energy strand under CEF I, the estimated contribution of CEF II until 2024 is at least 68% for the CEF projects of common interest budget and 100% for the new cross-border renewables window. It is important to note that the 68% is based on a cautious approach: under the last trans-European networks for energy projects of common interest call of the CEF I regulation (in 2020), the climate contribution was 84%. Under the first trans-European networks for energy projects of common interest calls of CEF II (in 2021, 2022 and 2023), the climate contribution was consistently above 90%. Similar shares are expected under future calls. 
• Besides this, the Energy strand contributes to clean air policy by promoting cross-border infrastructure and renewable energy projects that enable the electrification and decarbonisation of the energy sector. Overall, 36% of the energy strand budget contributed to clean-air related projects by 2023. 
• Moreover, most of the investments funded under the Energy strand make a substantial contribution to climate mitigation and adaptation, according to the criteria set in the relevant EU taxonomy delegated acts. The Energy strand therefore significantly contributes (EUR 1.26 billion under the first two calls of CEF II) to taxonomy-aligned activities, including projects relating to electricity transmission, storage and smart grids.  
• Because of their nature, the programme’s Digital strand projects will contribute to the digitalisation of other infrastructures and services, reducing their carbon footprint and making them energy-efficient. 

Gender

Contribution to gender equality (million EUR) (*):

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• The programme has a 0* score for its contribution to gender equality. 
• The programme, which supports basic infrastructural investments, does not have gender equality as a deliberate objective. Also, at the present time and based on CEF I and CEF II-related regulations, the collection of gender-balance disaggregated data is not feasible for any of the three strands In the CEF Transport sector, the investments mainly concern the development of railway infrastructure, port infrastructure, digitalisation of transport, deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, etc. This infrastructure is not gender-specific and it is not possible to disaggregate the data concerning gender. Similarly, the Energy strand of CEF has supported investments for large infrastructure such as electricity interconnectors, electricity storages, smart electricity grids, gas pipelines, liquid natural gas terminals, underground gas storage and cross-border carbon dioxide networks, for which it is not possible to have disaggregation gender-specific data.  
• As for the Digital strand, it will support only the deployment of physical connectivity infrastructures. However, the actual applications and services which will run on top of them, or the end-users benefiting from them, will ensure the digital inclusiveness of the targeted geographical areas and typologies of connected entities (households, schools, hospitals, etc.). It is not possible to have disaggregated gender-specific data on the use of connectivity infrastructures. However, it can be assumed that state-of-the-art digital connectivity, along with the innovative applications enabled, will create new opportunities across genders, thus contributing to fill in the gender digital gap. 

Digital

Contribution to digital transition (million EUR):

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• In 2021 and 2022, the digital contribution of the programme was calculated based on the grants signed following the calls for proposals launched in 2021 and 2022. It is foreseen that this contribution will remain stable in 2023. The 2023 CEF transport calls closed in January 2024 and the grant agreements will be signed by the end of the year. 
• The support to the digitalisation of the transport sector is one of the main pillars of the sustainable and smart mobility strategy adopted by the Commission at the end of 2020 (1). In this framework, the Transport strand aims at modernising the trans-European transport network with the deployment of the necessary digital infrastructure that will enable improved, safer, smarter and greener mobility for all transport modes. As a result of the first Transport calls for proposals for ‘Actions related to smart and interoperable mobility’ launched in September 2021, 31 actions with programme co-funding of more than EUR 500 million have been awarded. The second call for proposals for the same actions was launched in September 2022. As a result, a total of EUR 450 million was awarded to 24 projects which were selected for co-financing. In particular, support has been provided to the digitalisation of the trans-European transport network railway network, through the support to the European Railway Traffic Management System technology. 
• The Energy strand contributes to digitalisation of the energy system and further integration of renewable electricity, notably by reducing bottlenecks in connection requests, improving grid controllability and enabling innovative market solutions, as one of the main objectives of the trans-European networks for energy priority thematic area of smart electricity grids. These projects aim to modernise the grids so that consumers are empowered to become more active players in the market, producing much of their own energy needs while offering a cost-effective solution to balancing energy supply and demand. Under the current multiannual financial framework, a limited number of smart grids projects have been eligible under CEF II (5 out of a total of 98 projects included in the 5th list of energy projects of common interest) and one of these projects has received support for works equivalent to 12% of the second call for proposals of CEF II (EUR 73 million). 
• Through its specific support to the deployment of digital connectivity infrastructure, the Digital strand will contribute in its entirety to the digital transition policy goals, specifically to achieve the targets set in the Digital Decade policy programme in terms of digitalisation of businesses, public services and citizens. By supporting projects of common interest relating to the deployment of safe, secure, sustainable and very high-capacity digital networks, including 5G systems, the programme’s Digital actions contribute to the transformation and modernisation of vertical sectors such as health, education and training, tourism, manufacturing, transport or logistics. 
• Enhanced digital connectivity will contribute to the digital readiness and competitiveness of the EU’s businesses and the industrial and public services ecosystem. It will give all citizens and businesses new opportunities to benefit fully from the digital single market and accelerate economic recovery and growth. 
• The Digital strand will contribute to the inclusiveness of outermost regions and oversea countries and territories by connecting them with up-to-date submarine backbones and ensuring that they can also benefit from advanced wireless and mobile connectivity (5G, Wi-Fi). 
• The Digital strand is financing coordination and support actions to promote the best practice projects addressing the deployment and take-up of 5G systems to support services of general interest in local, rural communities, contributing to the digital and green transitions of public services and businesses in such domains as agriculture, healthcare, mobility and tourism. 

^{(1) COM/2020/789 final- Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy – putting European transport on track for the future.}

Budget performance – outcomes

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• The programme’s 2021-2027 legal basis was adopted on 7 July 2021, i.e. later than expected. Despite the preparatory work initiated by the programme’s parent DGs, the first multiannual work programmes could only be adopted in August 2021, and the 2021 calls for proposals (for the Transport and Energy strands) were only launched in September 2021. 
• Considering the above, the first outcomes of the programme calls were materialised in 2022 with the signature of grant agreements for the three strands. 
• For the Transport strand, only the results of the first calls for proposals launched in September 2021 and September 2022 can contribute to this report. Taking into consideration the new design of the programme, with dedicated amounts allocated to the completion of the trans-European transport network, Member States and infrastructure managers targeted their applications to the core network, which shall be achieved by 2030, as per the trans-European transport network regulation.  
• In this framework, many more projects than initially foreseen have been awarded to address cross-border and missing links along the trans-European transport network, following the list included in Annex III of the programme regulation. 
• At the same time, contrary to the original assumptions, fewer projects contributing to the modernisation of the trans-European transport network have been selected, in particular relating to the digitalisation of all transport modes (with the exception of the European Railway Traffic Management System for railways). This could be explained by the enhanced focus on the completion of the network more than on its modernisation, and by the absence of a fully-fledged air traffic management topic (only demonstrators), pending the adoption of the single European sky air traffic management research deployment, that took place only in August 2022.  
• The Transport strand has been instrumental to the EU’s response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Under the 2022 CEF calls, CEF has supported nine projects with funding of EUR 250 million, aiming at implementation of the EU–Ukraine Solidarity Lanes. The objective of these actions is to develop the transport infrastructure at the border crossing areas between the Member States and Ukraine and Moldova, aiming at facilitating the transport flows to/from the EU. The implementation of the projects is on track, with the projects due to finish in 2025 and 2026.  
• Furthermore, also as part of the EU’s response to Russia’s war of aggression, the Commission anticipated the evaluation of the Military Mobility call for proposals and launched the 2022 Military Mobility call before the summer of 2022. The call, closed during the third quarter of the year, already included the selection of relevant dual-use infrastructure projects to better connect Ukraine and the EU. Moreover, under the 2023 Military Mobility call, which was launched in May 2023 and closed in September, all of the remaining budget for this envelope (EUR 808 million) will be allocated to the projects improving the relevant trans-European transport network infrastructure. 
• With reference to the progress achieved for the specific key performance indicators listed above, it should be noted that for the indicators ‘Number of alternative fuel supply points built or upgraded with the support of the programme’ and ‘Number of transport infrastructure components adapted to civilian–military dual-use requirements’, the methodology developed by DG Mobility and Transport and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency aims at considering only project outputs as relevant data for the reporting exercise. For this reason, only closed actions (or actions expected to be closed) within the reference year will be considered.  
• In 2021, 2022 and 2023, CEF has supported the deployment of 497 alternative fuels supply points. For instance, CEF contributed to the deployment of almost 300 interoperable ultrafast chargers for electric vehicles on trans-European transport network roads in Italy. 
• Most of the currently signed 57 Military Mobility actions are ongoing and more detailed information will be presented in future reporting. In 2023, two projects aimed at enhancing civilian–military mobility were completed. For instance, an action in Częstochowa (Poland) was finalised. As a result, three new road engineering structures were constructed along National Road 91, classified with the highest load-bearing capacity of ‘A’ and also facilitating the transportation of military vehicles. 
• CEF interventions contribute to the EU’s climate objectives, dedicating at least 60% of its budget for actions delivering for this purpose. Concerning the synergies between the horizontal priorities, the CEF Transport strand contributes to the climate, clean air and digital priorities, as indicated above. The majority of the support goes to the sustainable transport modes such as railways and waterborne transport. The Transport strand also supports the digitalisation of transport by the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System, Intelligent Transport Systems, the ‘Single European Sky ATM Research’ project, etc. 
• For the energy sector, only the results of the first two trans-European networks for energy projects of common interest calls for proposals (2021 and 2022) have been included in this programme statement. Considering the usual calendar of the calls, results are not reported in the call year, as the signature of the related grant agreements occurs in the following year (e.g. grant agreement signature in 2024 for the 2023 CEF call for projects of common interest).  
• The programme’s Energy-funded actions significantly contribute to security of supply, notably through the smartening of grids and increasing energy storage capacity. In particular, the 2022 call contributes to the EU aim of increasing the resilience of the EU-wide energy system in order to phase out our dependency on fossil fuels from Russia well before 2030, as foreseen in the repowerEU plan. Complementarities between the programme’s Energy strand and the Recovery and Resilience Facility will be exploited. If a common interest project promoter applies to the programme and the same project is also put forward (as an investment-type measure) under the new repowerEU chapter of a Member State’s recovery and resilience plan, a clear explanation should be provided on how the two funding sources are complementary, whether they apply to separate project components and how, in the absence of recovery and resilience plan funding, the project timeline would be impacted. Examples of projects supported through the 2021 and 2022 calls include the underground gas storage facilities in Chiren (Bulgaria) and Bilciurești (Romania) that will benefit the larger region by increasing storage capacity and its overall flexibility, and the smart electricity project GreenSwitch between Croatia, Austria and Slovenia, which aims to increase security of supply, quality of service and flexibility. 
• The Energy strand also supports interconnecting Member State networks and removing internal constraints. Examples include the EuroAsia and ELMED subsea interconnectors (between Crete and Cyprus and between Sicily and Tunisia, respectively), the Aurora Line interconnection (between Finland and Sweden), or the additional support awarded to phase II of the Baltic synchronisation project that will increase the security of supply in the region. Such electricity projects also contribute to increasing renewable energy source penetration and thus to reaching the related targets. In addition, the Energy strand is a strong catalyst in bringing together project promoters, national regulatory authorities and government representatives to solve issues so that cross-border infrastructure projects can be realised. Its Grants component is making the difference in promoting cooperation between countries to develop and implement energy interconnection projects of common interest that otherwise would not happen. This is especially the case for cross-border projects located in countries with smaller population sizes or in a more remote location, where energy tariffs would need to be increased substantially to cover the investment needs. The EuroAsia Interconnector for electricity between Greece and Cyprus and the Chiren underground gas storage site in Bulgaria are examples of projects that could not have been funded in a purely national context. 
• While CEF Energy calls in 2021 and 2022 have been oversubscribed, the monitoring of results is difficult, due to the long implementation time of the grants for works for large and technically complex energy infrastructure projects, and also due to the calendar shift between the awarded actions and the signature of the grant agreements.  
• Besides, the trans-European networks for energy regulation was recently revised in line with the European Green Deal objectives, broadening its scope to new energy infrastructure categories, such as offshore grids and hydrogen infrastructure, which will be eligible under CEF II. Hence, as of 2024 the programme’s Energy actions will be focused on the projects included in the list of projects of common interest and projects of mutual interest that was adopted in November 2023 and is expected to enter into force in 2024. 
• Two considerations have to be borne in mind: 
  • the first 2 years of CEF II have led to a lower number of grant agreements with higher grants (e.g. works instead of studies) than what we saw in the first 2 years of CEF I; 
  • the current economic environment, with important cost increases for material and components, means that CEF II may finance fewer actions than initially expected. 
• One challenge for the first calls had been the state of readiness of some of the novel topics, such as large-scale 5G corridors or cloud interconnections, which require additional time for preparation. One of the main reasons is that the Digital strand is a new programme with new constituencies and settings and new eligibility requirements (notably the security restrictions). On the other hand, demand exceeded the initial planning for topics such as global gateways / submarine cables, which allowed us to transfer budget between topics using the 20% flexibility given in the financing decision.  
• To mitigate the risk of under-subscription, the stakeholders have been informed as early as possible about future funding opportunities for digital networks, through targeted communication campaigns and/or informal contacts. Besides, giving the applicants a reasonable amount time to prepare and submit proposals (ideally 4 months from call launch to closure) would mitigate the challenges experienced and improve efficiency of the programme performance, especially considering that several potential applicants in the digital areas covered under the programme are not used to addressing some of the requirements of EU calls for proposals (ownership control, security requirements, etc.). 
• On the other hand, the ‘Digital global gateways’ calls attracted more proposals than expected, revealing a strong interest and demand of an established constituency, where the technology is very mature. Thanks to the redeployment of the funds, the selected projects could cover a very broad geographic area, including outermost regions and overseas countries and territories. 
• The CEF Digital programme, and particularly the Digital Global Gateways topic, has so far also increased the resilience and capacity of the digital backbone networks in EU territories by financing  studies or deployment of backbone networks, with more than 30 projects deploying infrastructures in the EU or between the EU and non-EU countries (connecting 17 Members States, Overseas Countries and Territories). As examples: 
  • the CEF Digital strand supports the submarine cable CAM Ring (Continent–Azores–Madeira), as the current one is becoming obsolescent and its replacement is an essential priority for the EU; 
  • the ‘Pisces’ project addresses the shortfall of digital connectivity between Ireland and the rest of the EU, with direct (post-Brexit), high-capacity, open access, scalable dark fibre availability directly to France, with a provision for additional subsea branches to Spain and Portugal (approximately 2 100 kilometres); 
  • the ‘ViaTunisia’ project will build a submarine cable between Marseilles (France) and Bizerte (Tunisia). 
  • The CEF Digital programme is also supporting several projects: Tussas Connect 1 and 2, Far North Fiber 1, North Pole Fiber 1 and the Northern Gateways study (cost EUR 89.5 million, grant EUR 37.6 million ); Arctic connectivity, where there is strategic geopolitical interest in an alternative route to Asia (particularly Japan) via the Arctic as tensions in the Middle East rise; and the Suez Canal chokepoint, with the Red Sea becoming an unstable area and thus endangering critical submarine cable infrastructures. At the same time, connectivity in the Arctic is serving Greenland (a self-governing territory of Denmark) and areas that have remote and isolated populations at risk of connectivity failure, as the investments are not per se economically viable. With the use of ‘smart cables’ (i.e. cables that have sensors or are used as sensors), there is also an impact on multiple policy areas of the EU (environmental monitoring of the Arctic is useful for evidence-based policies with regards to climate change, seismic/tsunami detection, submarine fauna monitoring, etc.). 
  • The project Subsea French Guiana (cost EUR 61.1 million, grant EUR 30 million) is building on top of the existing infrastructure of Elallink, which links Portugal to Brazil. EllaLink is planning to build a 2 145-kilometre branch on the main system to connect the city of Cayenne in French Guiana. While French Guiana currently only relies on infrastructures going through North America, this new cable will connect this EU outermost region directly to continental Europe with no dependency on any non-EU territory, thereby reinforcing the sovereignty of the digital development of the entire Caribbean region. It will also improve the security and resilience of the highly strategic European Spaceport in Kourou. 
• Furthermore, while the ‘5G for Smart Communities’ project started with a modest number of proposals (7) in Call 1, these have since increased to 18 in Call 2. Currently, there are a total of 32 proposals under evaluation in Call 3. The total number of projects under implementation is 17 and most of them are cross-sectoral in nature. The use cases correspond to specific local needs, creating impact on the ground, but at the same time providing replicable solutions to be multiplied throughout Europe. 
• To name an example, CONNECTOW is a smart city project in implementation in the city of Wavre (Belgium) which enables four different use-cases with the use of 5G technology. The first one is in public safety with the use of drones for delivering real-time data to emergency responders at the scene. The second is in smart metering for energy management systems and energy awareness of the building inhabitants. In addition, there is a use-case in deploying 5G-based wireless sensor network for air quality monitoring in residential areas to improve quality of life of residents and visitors. 
• Security considerations are embedded in the CEF Digital programme by default. These are reflected in the conditions for eligibility, which in principle reserve funding for backbone projects only to EU-controlled undertakings and, as regards 5G infrastructures, require security guarantees approved by the Member State of establishment. Moreover, all participants must submit security-related declarations. 

MFF 2014-2020 – CEF

The CEF is a key EU funding instrument to promote jobs, growth and competitiveness through targeted infrastructure investment at the EU level. It supports the development of high-performance, sustainable and efficiently interconnected trans-European networks in the fields of transport, energy and digital services.

Budget implementation

Cumulative implementation rate at the end of 2022 (million EUR):

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Performance assessment

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Transport

• The more than 1 000 actions signed within the programme’s 2014-2020 Transport strand have been supported with an EU contribution of more than EUR 23 billion, triggering around EUR 50 billion of private and public investments. These have strongly contributed to paving the way for the achievement of the key trans-European transport network and wider EU policy objectives addressing the removal of bottlenecks and enhancing interoperability, ensuring sustainable and efficient transport systems and optimising the integration and interconnection of transport modes.
• In particular, the programme has been one of the front-running EU spending programmes supporting the sustainable and digital transitions. In line with the European Green Deal, transport investments for infrastructures strongly contributed to climate objectives, feeding the EU long-term decarbonisation commitments. Around 80% of the programme’s support has been allocated to the rail and inland waterways sectors and to the acceleration of the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, fostering a new mobility paradigm. As an example, in 2023 a CEF I project contributing to the construction of the multimodal logistic platform and a rail-road terminal in Extremadura (Spain) was closed. Being located on the high-speed Sines–Lisbon–Madrid railway line at the border crossing point between Spain and Portugal, the new infrastructure improves cross-border freight transport and the modal shift from road to rail. With the aim to shift traffic from the highly saturated road network in Italy, another CEF I project improved the navigability of the Po river by removing bottlenecks such as underbridge clearances and allowing for a better regulation of the river flow throughout the year.
• Furthermore, data and digital infrastructure have received targeted support, enhancing the deployment of digital solutions for all transport modes. As an example, in 2023 a dedicated action contributed to equip 1 400 freight train wagons with sensors and digital communication tools to exchange real-time data. The sensors installed on the wagons will optimise the interoperability for seamless cross-border rail. 
• Nevertheless, the implementation of the programme’s 2014-2020 actions has also been directly impacted by the geopolitical crisis in Ukraine. In particular, as fallout of the war context, some programme beneficiaries have reported delays linked to increased energy costs, lack or increased prices of raw materials for construction, the impacts of inflation and lack of workforce in some of the Member States bordering Ukraine. While no specific issue at the strand level could be generalised, the Commission services and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency are closely monitoring the implementation of all actions and will take informed decisions on possible mitigating measures on a case-by-case basis. In particular, similarly to the actions taken in the aftermath of the pandemic crisis, the Commission might decide to review the duration of some actions, allowing for additional time for their finalisation.
• Taking into consideration the above information and recalling that there is a time lag of approximately 1.5 years between the actual completion of a project and the registration of results, corresponding to the time required to close the projects, it can be concluded that there was overall moderate progress of the implementation of the 2014-2020 programme in the last 12 months.
• As per the current situation, the expected maximum duration of the programme’s Transport actions should not go beyond the end of 2024. Their results (outputs triggering performance data) can be achieved by the of 2024 and related information for financial closure can be received until mid-2026. In this framework it is considered that the potential for the achievement of the indicated targets is still there.

Energy

• During the 2014-2020 period, Energy co-funding of a total of EUR 4.59 billion was allocated to 149 actions contributing to 107 projects of common interest. By the end of 2023, 120 actions that received programme support were completed in total: 58 on electricity and storage, 55 on gas, 3 on smart grids and 4 on carbon dioxide networks.
• Under CEF I, 77% of the actions were studies, accounting for 10% of the total commitments under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework, as preparatory studies are normally much less budget-intensive than project construction. This means that the largest share of CEF I funding goes to works (90%), representing 23% of the total actions. Compared to CEF I, the proportion of studies versus works is expected to shift for the first calls under CEF II, as a number of key infrastructure projects that had received CEF support for studies under the previous (2014-2020) multiannual financial framework have become mature for support for construction at the onset of the current multiannual financial framework. This means that under the first two calls of CEF II, 38% of the actions have been studies and 62% have been works, with the latter absorbing 97.5% of the total grants awarded. 
• In general, the Energy core performance indicators for 2014-2020 reflect different angles of the achievements of the EU energy policy, such as the end of Member States’ isolation, the interconnection target levels, the increase of system resilience and the diversification of gas supply sources, which are of the utmost relevance in minimising the effect of the unprovoked Russian aggression to Ukraine on the energy markets.
• The positive impact of the Energy strand should be measured in the long term, considering the lengthy implementation periods of large-scale energy infrastructure projects. In 2023, no progress was registered in terms of commissioned projects reducing Member States’ energy isolation (six projects of common interest to target) and system resilience (two Member States to target), while two more Member States have reached the percentage of electricity cross-border transmission power relating to the installed electricity generation capacity expected by the EU policy (19 Member States complying with the 15% interconnection target). Progress has been achieved in terms of projects allowing the diversification of supply sources, as one additional project of common interest supporting the EU’s security of supply has been completed in 2023, setting the level of pending projects of common interest to be commissioned under this particular indicator from eight to seven.
• The success of the numerous actions of the projects of common interest and their contribution to the policy objectives of the trans-European networks for energy strategy is not yet fully reflected in the indicators, due to the long implementation time of the grants for large and technically complex energy infrastructure projects. In addition, delays have occurred because of external factors such as the COVID-19 sanitary crisis and cost inflation, the need to secure sufficient co-funding (national or other sources), public procurement issues (e.g. complaints/appeals during tender procedures) and legal and environmental issues (e.g. permitting, spatial planning, other authorisations and land acquisition). The revised trans-European transport network regulation, the policy framework for the infrastructure projects of common interest that are eligible for the Energy strand which entered into force in June 2022, includes strengthened planning and permitting provisions to address project implementation issues.
• Nevertheless, the programme’s Energy-funded actions have significantly contributed to the integration of the EU energy market through the strengthening of cross-border connections aiming to end energy isolation and eliminate bottlenecks. The Energy strand also supports projects that increase security of supply in Member States where this issue is most pressing.

Telecom

• Regarding WiFi4EU for the 2018-2020 period, more than 8 800 vouchers were awarded through the programme. The network installations steadily increased and exceeded the expected target of 8 900 by reaching 9 169 in the last quarter of 2023.

Contribution to the sustainable development goals