On 6 July, the ERRIN Transport Working Group and POLIS organised a meeting on the impact of the revised TEN-T regulation on the urban nodes. The focus was also put on the role of the Connecting Europe Facility in effectively implementing the new requirements at local and regional levels.  

During the session, Herald Ruijters, Acting Deputy Director-General and Director of Investment for Innovative & Sustainable Transport at DG MOVE European Commission provided valuable insights into the revised Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) legislation, which places greater emphasis on urban nodes. ‘Urban nodes’ refers to areas where different components of the transport infrastructures of the TEN-T, such as ports, passenger terminals, airports, railways stations, bus terminals and logistic platforms, are interconnected with each other. The revised TEN-T regulation aims to enhance the integration of 424 urban nodes, fostering innovation to improve Europe’s transport capacity, sustainability and competitiveness. 

Herald Ruijters provided an overview of various financial instruments, including the ERDF, Cohesion Fund, Recovery and Resilience Facility, and Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which are available for Urban Nodes to develop the physical and digital infrastructures needed in the coming decades.  

As suggested by Herald Ruijters, a follow-up meeting may be organised in the coming months to further explore the funding opportunities for regions and cities in innovative sustainable mobility projects.  

POLIS and ERRIN have been longstanding proponents of enhancing synergies among financial support instruments, emphasising the need for improved collaboration and integration of Transport-Energy-Digital projects. Additionally, both networks are actively backing the establishment of an "Urban CEF," which would offer greater and more substantial support specifically tailored to projects related to urban nodes. Further details can be found in the accompanying press release. 

For more information, please refer to the attached document.  

ERRIN’s members can access the event supporting documents here.  

Since 2019, POLIS and ERRIN have collaborated to support local and regional stakeholders in discerning proposed legislative changes and advocating for their specific needs at the European level. Together, they have provided feedback and recommendations to the European Commission and European Parliament on the definition, components and requirements on Urban Nodes and TEN-T regulation. Last year, the two networks released proposals for concrete amendments to the legislation, addressing the concept of a functional urban area, the SUMP requirements and data collection.