MEPs Michał Szczerba (EPP, Polish) and Roberts Zīle (ECR, Latvian) have called on the European Commission, the EU Council and Member States to “address the funding gap for military mobility”, in their draft report on the regulation regarding this subject, published on Tuesday 17 March. In their view, this will strengthen European security.
Presented in November by the European Commission, the proposed regulation aims to improve military mobility throughout the Union and create a “military Schengen” (see EUROPE 13755/1). The rapporteurs have drafted around a hundred amendments. In the draft report, they argue that “a more ambitious and forward-looking approach in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and in the next ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF) [...] is needed to ensure adequate funding and flexibility for Member States to implement key infrastructure projects”.
The MEPs also stressed the strategic importance of strengthening interoperability within the EU, with countries in the European Economic Area, NATO and key partners such as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. This includes the extension of transport corridors to neighbouring regions, but also the availability and resilience of dual-use infrastructure. “It is therefore necessary to ensure that clear and harmonised rules apply across the Union regardless of whether transport operations are carried out directly by the armed forces or by civilian contractors acting on their behalf”, they added.
Harmonisation and digitalisation. They advocated a comprehensive EU-wide framework for cross-border military transport, which should simplify, harmonise and digitalise authorisation procedures for all modes of transport. In their view, introducing permanent military transport authorisations, valid until revoked, alongside simplified procedures for ad hoc authorisations, would considerably reduce the administrative burden and improve the predictability of military transport operations.
The co-rapporteurs are counting in particular on digitalisation to achieve these objectives. The Commission’s establishment of a secure digital information system on military mobility would enable Member States to manage military transport authorisations, traffic regulations and customs formalities via a common platform. The system should guarantee interoperability with NATO mechanisms and comply with EU customs legislation.
This comprehensive framework should be subject to effective governance and coordination through the creation of a dedicated group. This would facilitate cooperation and information exchange between Member States, the Commission and relevant EU bodies, such as the EU Military Staff and the European Defence Agency. Nevertheless, they insisted on the protection of sensitive and classified information. The co-rapporteurs called on the Commission, the EU Council and Member States to ensure that appropriate safeguards are put in place to protect confidential data related to military transport operations, while facilitating information exchange with NATO where necessary.
Read the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/l93 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)