The Cohesion Fund (CF), one of the European Structural and Investment Funds, encourages investments in priority trans-European transport networks and investments related to energy or transport that benefit the environment in terms of energy efficiency, use of renewable energy, developing transport and supporting intermodal transport.
The CF has an overall budget of €63 billion for 2014-2020. This support is provided to Member States whose Gross National Income per inhabitant is less than 90 % of the EU average. For the 2014-2020 period, the Cohesion Fund is available in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
In 2007-13, financial instruments were not used under the Cohesion Fund. However, recognising the advantages of support through financial instruments, this way of providing support is now possible under the CF.
Financial instruments can thus contribute to the achievement of the following objectives of the CF:
- promoting the production, distribution and use of energy derived from renewable sources;
- supporting energy efficiency and smart energy management;
- investing in the waste sector and water sector;
- improving the urban environment, including decontamination of brownfield sites;
- supporting a multimodal Single European Transport Area;
- developing and improving environmentally-friendly (including low-noise) and low-carbon transport systems in order to promote sustainable regional and local mobility;
- developing and upgrading comprehensive, high quality rail, river and sea transport, intermodal transport systems and their interoperability.
Financial instruments co-funded by the CF can therefore be used to support a wide range of financially viable investment projects.
