The European Commission (EC) has agreed to release €750m of CEF energy funding for key European energy infrastructure projects with major cross-border benefits. The funds will be allocated to Projects of Common Interest (PCIs), i.e. projects having a significant impact on at least two EU countries, reducing CO2 emissions, bolstering competitiveness and enhancing the EU's energy security.
The projects will be selected under the framework of the 2019 CEF Energy call for proposals, which is set to remain open until 13 June 2019. They will be evaluated on the basis of several criteria such as their state of maturity, their benefits in terms of security of supply, solidarity or innovation, and to what extent public support from the EU is needed to remove financing bottlenecks.
In total, the CEF Energy programme will allocate €5.35bn or trans-European energy infrastructure over the period 2014-2020. So far, €3.4bn have been allocated.