Investing in Transport in the new MFF 2028-2034

The study published in April 2026 recommends concentrating CEF‑Transport on a limited portfolio of high‑impact cross‑border and dual‑use projects, strengthening conditionalities and targeted technical assistance in Cohesion Policy, establishing an innovation‑to‑deployment pipeline between research and investment instruments, and reinforcing governance, transparency and security mainstreaming in EU transport investment.

• In 2028–2034, European Union (EU) transport investments must support accelerated decarbonisation, higher security requirements and completion of the Trans‑European Transport Network (TEN‑T) core and extended core networks, while public budgets are constrained and connectivity gaps persist, notably at cross‑border sections and in less connected regions.
• Experience from 2021–2027 shows that the mix of the Connecting Europe Facility – Transport (CEF‑Transport), Cohesion Policy funds, InvestEU, European Investment Bank (EIB) lending and temporary recovery instruments has mobilised substantial resources, but implementation performance has varied strongly between Member States and corridors, reflecting differences in administrative capacity, project pipelines and national co‑financing frameworks.
• The proposed 2028–2034 architecture – centred on a reinforced CEF‑Transport, transport‑relevant windows of the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), redesigned Cohesion instruments under National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs), a successor to the Horizon Europe framework programme and continued InvestEU/EIB operations – can enhance European added value if a clearer functional division of labour, stronger coordination between research, innovation and deployment, and more systematic performance frameworks are put in place.

The 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will be the first full seven‑year European Union (EU) budgetary cycle implemented under the revised Trans‑European Transport Network (TEN‑T) Regulation and in a changed geopolitical context, marked in particular by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and rising security concerns at the EU’s external borders. A central issue is how the main funding instruments are designed and combined so that limited public resources deliver high value for money in terms of TEN‑T completion, decarbonisation, resilience, security and territorial cohesion.

The study also highlights structural risks: possible dilution of transport‑specific priorities within broader envelopes where internal allocations remain indicative, and the persistence of administrative capacity constraints in certain Member States, which may hinder timely absorption and compliance with TEN‑T, climate, state‑aid and security requirements.

The complete study is available here.

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