The Politico-Military Group, a working group of the Council of the EU, has, in a document dated 18 July and seen on 26 August by EUROPE, called for specific actions to be defined for a rapid and seamless movement of armed forces and their equipment on European territory.
The group proposes, among other things, to define actions concerning in particular the development and improvement of dual-use transport infrastructure, the updating of military mobility requirements, including the new area of fuel chain infrastructure, the further harmonisation of processes and procedures, the carrying out of exercises and an improvement in resilience and the continuation of partnerships. In their opinion, the EU should, inter alia, draw on the lessons learned from military equipment transfers to Ukraine.
Among its proposals within the framework of the future proposal on military mobility, the Politico-Military Group highlights the strengthening of synergies between civilian and military domains, “including the important role of civilian or commercial actors and infrastructures in the context of military mobility”. It is also calling for substantially increased efforts and investments in military mobility to be translated into improved resource allocation, “in view of the deteriorating security situation”.
The Group is also calling for the permanent structured cooperation project to be aligned as far as possible with military mobility and relevant work in other inclusive formats and for enhanced dialogue and cooperation on the topic of military mobility between the EEAS, the European Commission and European Defence Agency, and NATO.
The Politico-Military Group also recommends that the High Representative of the Union and the European Commission present the new Military Mobility Action Plan to the EU Council by November 2022. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)