On Friday 10 November, Violeta Bulc, the Commissioner for Transport, officially launched the European Commission's roadmap to promote military mobility within the EU.
The joint communication of the Commission and the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, identifies focus areas to put an end to obstacles to the mobility of military personnel and equipment, thereby facilitating and accelerating their movement. The United States regularly criticises the problems it encounters when transporting materials within the EU, in the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
This communication comes on top of initiatives taken by the member states and by NATO, but also by the European Defence Agency. “Many players are involved in the process of allowing armed forces to move from one place to another, from a legal, diplomatic and infrastructure point of view, to make movements more fluid”, a European source acknowledged.
The communication identifies a number of areas in which measures should be considered. It also highlights the need to develop a shared understanding between the member states of the needs and requirements of this mobility. The question of rules and relevant procedures, particularly customs issues, the transport of hazardous goods and national procedures should also be tackled. The communication also argues that “developing a single procedure to ensure military mobility for all EU member states could be considered”. However, a European source stressed that the aim was not to create a “military Schengen”.
Making available physical infrastructure corresponding to technical standards accessible to all types of transport is another area for work, alongside the protection of military personnel and equipment and the exchange of information between Armed Forces and civil society.
The Commission and the High Representative are considering such options as using the trans-European transport networks (TEN-T) for military purposes. Addressing the press, however, Bulc took pains to stress that she did not want military activities to lead to any disturbances on civilian networks.
The joint communication does not specify any concrete action at this stage. The Commission and the High Representative are planning to present an action plan between now and March 2018 on military mobility. This action plan, to be based on the conclusions of the ad hoc working group of the European Defence Agency on military mobility, is expected to contain recommendations and an agenda of measures to be taken.
The joint communication is available at: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/join20170041-improving-military-mobility.pdf. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau and Camille-Cerise Gessant)