UNIFE, the Brussels-based association representing Europe's rail supply industry, has called on Ireland to support a significant increase in the EU's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) transport fund as negotiations intensify over the bloc's next long-term budget covering 2028 to 2034, with the association and a broad coalition of transport bodies calling for a co-financed programme worth at least €100 billion for rail and sustainable mobility investment over that period.

As reported by The Traveler, UNIFE has directed its appeal at Ireland specifically because of its assumption of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, which places Dublin at the centre of negotiations on the next multiannual financial framework and the architecture of future EU funds.

UNIFE describes the CEF as a central pillar of EU investment policy in transport, arguing that grants from the programme enable cross-border projects with strong European public good that would otherwise be underfunded at national level. The association points to persistent oversubscription in CEF calls, with demand reported to be three to four times higher than available budgets, as evidence that the current funding envelope is insufficient.

The €100 billion target set out in UNIFE's position papers is presented as necessary to complete priority sections of the trans-European transport network and roll out interoperable systems including the European Rail Traffic Management System, the future railway communications network, and digital automatic coupling for freight trains. UNIFE and co-signatories argue these technologies require predictable, multi-country investment that national budgets alone cannot reliably supply.

UNIFE's position papers stress the importance of retaining CEF as a centralised, grant-based instrument rather than shifting toward loans or blended finance, contending that grants provide a more stable basis for large infrastructure schemes where benefits are widely shared across borders and revenues accrue only over long timeframes.

For Ireland, a stronger CEF fund would translate primarily into additional opportunities to co-finance upgrades to port access, rail links, and digital signalling systems. Past CEF rounds have already supported projects enhancing maritime and rail connections between Ireland and other member states along north sea and Atlantic corridors.

The appeal illustrates a broader pattern of industry associations targeting EU presidency holders as strategic actors in budget negotiations, using the heightened political exposure of the presidency to build coalitions for sector-specific funding ambitions within the multiannual financial framework process.