Artur PERCHEL
Position Paper: UITP Positions on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034
See what UITP recommends to strengthening public transport, urban mobility, and sustainable infrastructure in Europe.
Introduction
On 16 July 2025, the European Commission presented its proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the EU’s long-term budget for 2028–2034, outlining spending priorities and funding allocations.
The proposal envisions a total budget of €1,761 billion, organised under three main headings:
- Economic, social, and territorial cohesion, including agriculture, rural and maritime prosperity, and security: €946 billion
- Competitiveness, prosperity, and security: €522 billion
- Global Europe: €190 billion
Contents:
- The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)
- The National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs)
- The European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)
- Horizon Europe and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
- EU funding for Civil Protection, Preparedness and Crisis Response
- Budget Performance
The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)
The proposed doubling of the CEF Transport budget to €51.5 billion focuses on TEN-T corridors and cross-border links, but the draft CEF III regulation lacks dedicated support for urban nodes and public transport. Without explicit recognition, essential urban mobility projects risk being sidelined.
The regulation should include urban nodes and multimodal hubs, protect civilian public transport funding, and simplify access to CEF support for local and regional authorities.
The National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs)
The new EU mega-Fund and NRPS offer flexibility for integrated investments but do not guarantee dedicated support for urban mobility and public transport.
Clear EU-level priorities, dedicated urban mobility envelopes, minimum spending targets, and direct involvement of cities and regions are needed to ensure predictable, substantial investment in public transport.
The European Competitiveness Fund (ECF)
Funding should prioritise clean, multimodal, digitalised, and resilient public transport infrastructure, rolling stock, and urban mobility hubs, while enabling the deployment of automated and autonomous mobility solutions.
Simplified access and direct involvement of public and private operators, including local authorities, are essential to maximise investment impact and strengthen Europe’s sustainable mobility ecosystem.
Horizon Europe and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
Funding should prioritise collaborative projects on urban and multimodal mobility, electrification, digitalisation, automation, and resilience, while ensuring inclusive access for cities, operators, SMEs, and research centres.
Simplified procedures, predictable multiannual calls, and public-private partnerships are essential to accelerate innovation, strengthen industrial competitiveness, and enable large-scale deployment of sustainable and autonomous mobility solutions.
EU funding for Civil Protection, Preparedness and Crisis Response
UITP highlights the need to explicitly consider public transport operators and authorities as critical actors within the EU’s new strategic framework. They should be fully recognised under the civil protection mechanism and included in prevention, preparedness, and crisis response planning.
While the draft regulation establishes a crisis coordination hub and strengthens the role of the ERCC, integrating public transport into these arrangements is essential for resilient and safe mobility.
Budget Performance
Simplifying the EU performance framework is essential, but it must not create additional reporting burdens for beneficiaries.
UITP calls for practical simplification, strengthened mobility-relevant metrics, and alignment across EU instruments to ensure public transport’s strategic contribution is properly reflected.
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