The Council agreed on a partial general approach on a draft regulation establishing the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The draft regulation determines the conditions, methods and procedures for the Union's financial contribution to TEN projects, i.e. projects in the fields of transport, energy and telecommunications.

A partial general approach on a draft regulation establishing the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) was agreed by the Council. Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice-President responsible for transport and mobility, welcomed the outcome of Transport Council reaching a partial general approach on this initiative known as 'Connecting Europe Facility'. According to Mr Kallas, this text presents a delicate balance within the Council and forms a fair basis for further work. It also reflects the very good coordination with discussions on the sectoral guidelines for trans-European networks, for whose implementation the CEF is crucial.

The development strategies, the priorities and the implementation measures for each of the sectors are defined in sector-specific policy guidelines which will be adopted separately. The Council has already agreed on a general approach on guidelines for the transport sector. The energy and telecommunications guidelines, however, are still under discussion. In February 2012, the Council held a discussion on the regulatory aspects of the proposal on trans-European energy infrastructure. While the transport part of the CEF regulation strongly focuses on the funding of railways and inland waterways, it also allows, under certain conditions, the financing of road projects through grants. The compromise proposal offered the most possibilities in this respect to Member States eligible for support from the cohesion fund, but also to member states without a rail network. Apart from road financing, the Council increased the co-financing rate for the development of the Motorways of the Seas from 20% to 30% and added the interconnection of maritime ports to the indicators for achieving the objective of enhanced interconnection and interoperability.

On the other hand, the compromise text also contains some modifications concerning rail or road sections or ports that have been introduced into the list of core network corridors set out in the annex to the regulation. Moreover, it will be clarified in a recital that the completion of the core transport network includes not only the creation of new infrastructure, but also the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing infrastructure.