The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomes the European Commission’s decision to continue the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), ensuring continued EU funding for developing and upgrading Europe’s transport and energy networks.
ESPO highlights the geostrategic role of ports as multimodal hubs supporting trade, energy, military mobility, and industrial activity. Secretary General Isabelle Ryckbost stressed the need for investment support to help ports deliver on public-interest projects that may not yield immediate returns.
The proposed €81.4 billion CEF budget is seen as a positive step, though ESPO considers it a minimum to achieve Europe’s strategic goals in competitiveness, resilience, and decarbonisation.
The ESPO position can be found here