The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), the organization representing railway companies and infrastructure managers across Europe, welcomes the European Parliament’s position on the European Union’s future multiannual budget, stating that more ambitious and predictable funding is needed for railway investments. The reaction comes following the adoption of the Parliament’s interim report on the future multiannual financial framework for 2028–2034.

CER believes that the message sent by the Parliament to the EU Council is an important one, at a time when Europe’s competitiveness and resilience increasingly depend on long-term investments in infrastructure.

The organization welcomes the Parliament’s call to increase the size of the future European budget and to allocate a sufficient share of funds to predictable and forward-looking investments.

For the transport sector, says the CER, this predictability is essential, as large infrastructure projects have long planning and execution cycles.

The CER also welcomes the Parliament’s support for strengthening key European funding instruments, in particular: The organization states that the transport sector has already made it clear that, to meet Europe’s strategic infrastructure needs, the CEF should reach at least 100 billion EUR.

At the same time, CER insists that European funds must be better coordinated with one another. If the CEF remains focused primarily on cross-border infrastructure, then the rest of the transport network must be coherently supported through other instruments, including national and regional partnership plans and the future European Competitiveness Fund.

In its response, the organization emphasizes that a fully interoperable and digitized rail system is becoming increasingly important at a time when Europe needs high-capacity and energy-efficient mobility, both for industrial competitiveness and for regional cohesion and crisis preparedness.

CER links this argument to the development of the future European high-speed network, as well as to its better integration with local networks, stating that this can increase citizens’ access to the opportunities offered by the European single market.

The organization also points out that rail investments are one of the most effective ways to reduce oil consumption in transportation, which directly links the issue to Europe’s energy security.

CER Executive Director Alberto Mazzola welcomed the investment vision put forward by the European Parliament but warned that worrying signs are already emerging in some legislative files related to the future budget.

According to him, particularly in discussions regarding the European Competitiveness Fund, some MEPs seem to be downplaying the importance of rail investments.

The CER’s message is that solutions for a better-connected continent already exist, and rail is one of them; however, to deliver results, stable funding and a consistent level of ambition across all of the European Union’s budgetary instruments are needed.