On Wednesday 19 November, the European Commission presented a communication and a proposal for a regulation aimed at improving military mobility throughout the EU and creating a “Military Schengen”.
These texts include the EU’s first-ever binding framework, the aim of which is to ensure that the EU’s dual-use - civil and military - transport infrastructure, rules and equipment enable, facilitate and accelerate the transport of troops and military equipment throughout the Union in less than three days. And this by the end of 2027. To strengthen the Union’s security, the Commission believes that Member States must be able to move large numbers of troops and equipment quickly. “This is essential for our deterrent capability, our response capability, if necessary, and our overall defence readiness”, explained a Commission official.
Fewer regulatory barriers and pooled capabilities. The “Military Schengen” concept is based on five measures: - removing regulatory obstacles; - the creation of an emergency framework with the establishment of a new ‘European Military Mobility Enhanced Response System’ (EMERS); - enhancing the resilience of transport infrastructure by modernising the EU’s main military mobility corridors; - pooling and sharing Member States’ military mobility capabilities, through the creation of a solidarity pool and the possibility of creating a digital information system; - strengthening governance and coordination with a new Military Mobility Transport Group and a strengthened trans-European transport network (TEN-T) Committee.
The removal of regulatory barriers will involve creating a single authorisation procedure for all 27 Member States, with streamlined and prioritised customs formalities and military transport rules. At present, each Member State has its own rules and requirements, which of course makes it very complex to move military troops across the EU’s borders - it can take up to 45 days.
If EMERS is activated by the European Council on a proposal from the Commission, it will create the necessary conditions for NATO movements to also take place effectively. It will enable fast-track procedures to be introduced for military transport within the EU. Member States will simply be able to notify their cross-border movements and will no longer need to follow the required authorisation procedures.
Financing civil and military infrastructure. To achieve this, infrastructure will have to be strengthened, thanks to substantial funding: €17.65 billion proposed under the next Connecting Europe Facility (2028-2034) for military mobility (see EUROPE 13683/3). The Commission has identified around 500 priority projects and targeted investments to eliminate chokepoints along priority corridors. “In most cases, we are modernising existing infrastructures for military and civilian purposes, which is very important. This means widening tunnels, strengthening bridges, consolidating railways and increasing the capacity of ports and airports”, explained Apóstolos Tzitzikóstas, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, at a press conference. “Every euro we invest in dual-use infrastructure, because these projects enable dual use, is an investment both in our security and in our economy and society”, he added.
Pooling and sharing capabilities will enable Member States to register the capabilities they have at their disposal, giving them access to everything they need: ammunition transport, vehicles, trailers for rail and sea transport, for example, and medical trains.
François Kalfon MEP (S&D, French), European Parliament rapporteur on military mobility (see EUROPE 13730/22), deplored the absence of European preference in a press release. “We cannot leave the key to our physical and digital infrastructures in the hands of foreign powers. We will therefore be fighting, during the forthcoming discussions in the European Parliament, to impose European preference and regain control of the infrastructure”, he said.
Conversely, his EPP colleagues, Poland’s Dariusz Joński and Belgium’s Wouter Beke, welcomed the proposal, calling the “Military Schengen” “essential to our collective defence”.
Similarly, Alberto Mazzola, the Executive Director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), welcomed the planned harmonisation in his sector.
Read the communication: https://aeur.eu/f/jjf
Read the proposal for a regulation and its annexes: https://aeur.eu/f/jjg ; https://aeur.eu/f/jjh ; https://aeur.eu/f/jji (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)