The European Commission has selected 107 transport infrastructure projects that will receive over €6 billion in grants from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU’s instrument for strategic investment in transport infrastructure. “Over 80% of the funding will support projects that deliver a more efficient, greener, and smarter network of railways, inland waterways and maritime routes” along the Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T), the European Commission said in a statement. Projects should also bolster the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, set up to facilitate Ukraine’s exports and imports. Major cross-border rail connections along the TEN-T core network have also been prioritised for funding. These include notably the Brenner Base tunnel (linking Italy and Austria), Rail Baltica (connecting the three Baltic States and Poland with the rest of Europe), as well as the cross-border section between Germany and the Netherlands (Emmerich–Oberhausen). “Today, we are allocating €6.2 billion to projects across Europe that will take us closer to completing the Trans-European Network for Transport, the backbone of the EU’s economy. I am particularly happy that €250 million will improve cross-border connections between Ukraine, Moldova, and their EU neighbours Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. These projects will make transporting goods between the EU and Ukraine easier, reinforcing the Solidarity Lanes”, said EU Commissioner for Transport Adina Vãlean.