CEF-Digital new call open: €20 million to ensure fast emergency repair of submarine cables in the Baltic Sea

HaDEA is happy to announce the launch of a new call in the digital strand of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF-Digital) programme improving Europe's digital connectivity infrastructures until 2027. 

This call “Cable Repair Capacities” aims at financing cable repair modules to be used in the Baltic Sea area in emergency situations. This pilot call is the first of a kind that is run under the "Digital Global Gateways" topic to ensure Europe's digital infrastructure remains resilient against sabotage or in the event of critical technical failure. 

The opening date is 5 February 2026. Applicants can submit proposals until 6 May 2026 (17.00 Brussels time).  

Who can apply?  

This call is restricted to public entities with an “emergency response” mandate such as entities active in the civil protection, national emergency response agencies, coastguards and navy. Proposals should provide repair modules to increase repair capacity for all subsea cable systems that are connecting EU Member States bordering the Baltic Sea. 

What are the eligible activities? 

The objective is to develop adaptable repair modules that can be deployed on existing vessels, as well as the related necessary operational capabilities. 

The modules are expected to be rapidly available in order to re-establish the service of submarine cables (through repair or substitution) in emergency situations, i.e. where the cut or the failure of the cable would cause severe damages to one or more Member States. These emergency situations will be declared by local authorities, such as the future Regional Cable Hubs (DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-CABLEHUBS).  

Background information 

With this call, the European Union aims to enhance the emergency response capacity and resilience of backbone networks’ infrastructures by supporting the establishment of adaptable repair modules for swift emergency repair operations, enabling quick response to incidents that could severely impact countries within the EU. 

Various sources mention an average of 200 failures per year globally across the 600 cable systems spanning up to 1.5 million km on the seabed. Lately concerns about deliberate disruptions in this critical infrastructure in the EU have increased. While this pilot call is focusing on the Baltic Sea area, where a high number of incidents affecting submarine cables and pipelines has recently been registered. 

A second call, open to other sea basins, is foreseen in the second half of 2026. The goal of the EU is to fund modules covering the main sea basins of the Union.

Apply now  

Additional info and useful links  

Press release: Work Programme and cable security Toolbox

Connecting Europe Facility – CEF Digital  

Connecting Europe Facility – Implementation by HaDEA 

Info Session 

An information Session dedicated to potential applicants will occur on 5 March 2026 from 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.  

No need to register. Click on this link to attend. 

For any questions related to the calls you can contact: HADEA-CEF-DIGITAL-CALLSec [dot] europa [dot] eu (HADEA-CEF-DIGITAL-CALLS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)