Brussels, March 17, 2026 (Lusa) - The European Commission (EC) on Tuesday opened two tenders under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), worth €200 million, for projects in high-capacity networks, such as submarine cables in Portugal.

The first tender allocates €180 million for the execution or significant modernisation of transport networks, improving the security, capacity, and resilience of the European Union's (EU) digital infrastructure. The tender focuses on 13 Projects of Cable of European Interest, identified as priority areas in the EU Report on the Security and Resilience of Submarine Cable Infrastructures.

Among the 13 projects identified as priorities is the Atlantic Triangle (Portugal - Azores - Madeira), aiming to replace current submarine cables, whose expiry date is estimated for 2028, connecting the mainland to the autonomous regions, focusing on smart connections capable of detecting earthquakes and measuring ocean temperature.

The second tender reserves €20 million for projects that provide smart updates to digital infrastructure, enabling real-time monitoring to protect critical infrastructure.

These updates support situational awareness by collecting environmental or incident data, which the Commission says will strengthen early warning systems, improve the detection of seismic activity and tsunamis, and monitor climate change impacts.

According to a community executive statement, these investments are in line with the objectives of the EU Action Plan for Cable Security and will help ensure secure, resilient connectivity.

IG/LYT // JNM

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