CEF-E-2026-PCI-PMI Call: Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Studies and Works (Closed 30 September 2026)

CEF-E-2026-PCI-PMI Call: Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Studies and Works (Closed 30 September 2026)

This page is a historical reference to CINEA’s 2026 Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Energy call for proposals for Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) and Projects of Mutual Interest (PMIs). CINEA’s announcement states that the call closed on 30 September 2026. The application window has ended; this page does not offer an open route to submit a proposal. The official call announcement remains useful for verifying the scope and budget of that round, while the Funding & Tenders Portal topic pages are the authoritative records for its works and studies topics.

CINEA announced the call on 30 April 2026. It made €600 million available from CEF Energy to co-finance studies and works. The call was for projects included in the second Union list of PCIs and PMIs, not a general invitation for any energy infrastructure proposal. The announcement identified eligible fields as electricity, smart electricity grids, smart gas grids, CO₂ networks, hydrogen, electrolysers, and projects under Article 24 gas derogation. It linked to distinct portal topics for works and studies.

CINEA and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy are the official sources for the call. CINEA’s current energy-infrastructure page describes the PCI/PMI works and studies opportunity as an annual call and records the 2026 opening and closing dates. That annual pattern does not itself announce a later round. CINEA’s current official Energy Infrastructure page identifies the 2026 dates but publishes no successor PCI/PMI call notice, deadline, amount, or application documents. Anyone considering a future application should wait for a new official notice and use the fresh portal topic and call documents published for it.

Historical call details

The €600 million figure describes the budget made available for this call. It is not a promise that any individual project would receive funding, nor does it mean that each eligible project could claim the entire amount. The award of a grant depended on the application and evaluation process established in the relevant call documents. CINEA’s announcement does not state a standard grant amount per project, so applicants should not infer a project-level award from the headline budget.

Who the 2026 call covered

The first eligibility gate was the list itself. CINEA stated that only projects included in the second Union list of PCIs and PMIs in the named fields could apply. A project that was merely aligned with a cross-border energy objective, but absent from that Union list, was not described as eligible by the announcement. Likewise, being a listed project did not on its own guarantee a grant: promoters still had to select the proper topic and meet the detailed conditions in its call documents.

The official distinction between PCIs and PMIs helps explain the geographic reach. PCIs are cross-border infrastructure projects that link or significantly affect the energy systems of at least two EU countries. PMIs connect energy infrastructure in one or more EU countries with neighbouring non-EU countries. The call therefore addressed projects with a defined European cross-border role. It was not presented as a generic national infrastructure fund or as an early-stage award for an unlisted idea.

The sectors listed in the CINEA notice span electricity networks, smart grid infrastructure, gas networks, carbon dioxide networks, hydrogen infrastructure, electrolysers, and the specified gas derogation category. The precise activity and project eligibility should be checked against the applicable work programme and topic conditions, because a sector label alone does not establish that a particular cost or action would qualify. The available notice establishes the policy boundary; it does not replace the detailed legal and financial conditions in the portal documents.

Application route used for the closed call

For the 2026 round, the CINEA announcement directed applicants to the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. It linked separate topics for WORKS and STUDIES. That division mattered: promoters needed to use the topic matching the action they proposed and follow that topic’s own forms, conditions, and submission requirements. The general announcement was a summary, not a substitute for the portal application package.

The practical steps for the historical round were therefore:

1. Check the list status. Establish that the project was included in the second Union list of PCIs and PMIs. Confirm the listed project and relevant field rather than relying on a broad description of cross-border benefit.
2. Choose the action type. Decide whether the application concerned works or studies, then use the corresponding topic linked from CINEA’s announcement. Do not assume that the same submission form or cost structure applied to both topics.
3. Read the topic documents. The Funding & Tenders Portal topic page and its call documents governed the detailed eligibility, admissibility, award, budget, and submission requirements. Applicants needed to use those documents for any binding instruction; the short CINEA announcement did not enumerate every form or attachment.
4. Prepare the portal submission. The proposal had to be assembled and submitted through the portal route for the selected topic, in line with its online forms and documents. CINEA’s information session covered admissibility and eligibility, award criteria, proposal preparation, cost and budget management, procurement rules, business plans, and the model grant agreement. These subjects indicate the areas applicants were advised to understand, but do not establish one universal checklist for every proposal.
5. Submit before the call closed. The announced closing date was 30 September 2026. That date is retained here as the real deadline for the closed round, not as a current invitation to apply.

The call also had a virtual information day on 18 May 2026. The event page records that it took place and provides information-day materials, including a recording and presentations. Those materials may help explain the prior process, but they are not a replacement for the topic conditions and do not reopen the call.

What a future applicant should do

There is no open application step to take under the 2026 call. Project promoters should not send a late proposal to its old portal topics or treat the historical deadline as rolling. CINEA’s wider programme information says the Commission launches one PCI/PMI works and studies call per year, and describes the 2026 call as closed. That is evidence of the programme’s recurring structure, not an announcement that a particular future round is open or that its requirements will repeat unchanged.

For a later round, the prudent sequence is to monitor CINEA’s CEF Energy calls page and the Funding & Tenders Portal; verify the new call identifier, Union list, fields, budget, opening and closing times; and read the new work programme and topic documents before deciding whether to apply. Promoters should confirm that their project appears on the list required for that round. They should then identify whether the proposed action is a study or works and check the corresponding topic’s exact consortium, cost, procurement, environmental, financial, and technical rules. A future call could alter scope or conditions, so the 2026 summary on this page should not be reused as a current checklist.

CINEA’s information about the programme and the portal remain useful for understanding where official notices are published. A published annual pattern or a remaining programme budget is not enough to infer an opening date. Until CINEA or the Commission publishes a new PCI/PMI call notice and the portal publishes its topic pages, no future deadline or application route should be entered as confirmed.

Why the opportunity mattered

The CEF Energy programme finances infrastructure that supports cross-border energy links. PCI and PMI status is a policy designation connected with the EU’s energy infrastructure planning and TEN-E framework. CINEA notes that projects selected as PCIs and PMIs can benefit from advantages such as accelerated permitting and improved regulatory treatment, and that listed projects can apply for CEF Energy support. These wider benefits are distinct from receiving a grant through this particular call.

The studies route and the works route served different points in an infrastructure project’s development. A study proposal could seek support for preparatory work tied to a listed project, while a works proposal concerned implementation activity. The announcement confirms both broad categories, but the detail of which costs and activities were supported belonged to the relevant topic documents. Promoters had to ground the proposal in the listed project, define the requested action, and show how it met the applicable topic conditions.

For cross-border promoters, eligibility was only the beginning of the work. They needed to coordinate the project partners, align the proposed action with the listed infrastructure, build a defensible cost and delivery plan, and satisfy the portal’s administrative requirements. CINEA’s information-day agenda reflects those issues by covering evaluation, budgets, procurement, business plans, and grant agreements. Applicants needed to consult the topic documents for the rules that applied to their specific project, rather than treating general advice or another project’s successful approach as a guarantee.

Common misunderstandings

• “The €600 million was a grant for each applicant.” It was the total call budget described by CINEA. Individual awards were subject to assessment and the applicable grant conditions.
• “Any cross-border energy project qualified.” CINEA limited eligibility to projects included in the second Union list and within the fields named in the notice.
• “The announcement contained every application rule.” It pointed promoters to separate portal topics. The portal documents governed the detailed application and evaluation requirements.
• “Studies and works used one interchangeable route.” CINEA linked distinct portal topics. The applicant needed to choose the route matching the proposed action and follow that topic’s conditions.
• “A recurring annual call means the next deadline is known.” The official programme page describes an annual call pattern. A new cycle still needs an official notice and new portal information before its dates and rules can be confirmed.
• “The old deadline can be treated as rolling.” This call had a published closing date. It is closed; late submission is not described as an available route.

Official sources

• CINEA announcement for the 2026 €600 million call — budget, closing date, list requirement, fields, works and studies topics, and information day.
• CINEA Energy Infrastructure page — annual-call context and confirmation that the 2026 call ran from 30 April to 30 September.
• European Commission: Funding for PCIs and PMIs — programme funding context and the 2026 call entry.
• CINEA virtual information day page — event record and materials for the prior application session.
• 2026 works topic and 2026 studies topic — historic submission routes for the two action types.

The 2026 call is closed. Keep this entry as a record of its verified scope and official sources; use a newly published CINEA announcement and portal topics to assess any subsequent opportunity.