Dhe EU Commission wants to expand the use of civilian infrastructure for troop transport in Europe. According to a new action plan to improve military mobility, which the four commissioners involved presented on Thursday, this not only affects roads, bridges, tunnels and ports, but also the energy supply. “When large troops are moved long distances in times of crisis, it is essential that they are safely refueled along the way,” the paper said. In addition, the handling of military convoys at the national borders should be accelerated and the military should be given preferential access to transport capacities in times of crisis.
With these priorities, which in many ways are reminiscent of the Cold War, the EU is drawing conclusions from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Executive Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager spoke of a “wake-up call”.
“Dramatically changed security environment”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the country needed to adapt to the “dramatically changed security environment”. He clearly stated that the adjusted plan is aimed at a conflict with Russia. The ability to move troops and equipment from one side of Europe to the other – “mainly from west to east” – is crucial. In the event of a Russian attack, tens of thousands of American troops alone would have to move east from the seaports on the Atlantic and North Seas.
The issue of military mobility only came onto the EU agenda after Russia annexed Crimea. The Commission presented its first action plan in 2018. As a result, the main axes were identified along which troops would have to be moved east, particularly to the Baltic States. It turned out that 93 percent of the connections used by the military are identical to the trans-European transport network.
In the meantime, the Commission has pledged a first tranche of 340 million euros for projects that adapt the load capacity of bridges or the headroom of tunnels to military needs. In total, investments of 1.5 billion euros are available for military mobility in the EU budget up to 2027 and a further 1.7 billion euros from the Connecting Europe Facility.
It was also agreed that the clearance of military convoys at the border between two member states should take a maximum of five working days. The new action plan provides for digitization of customs formalities; this could reduce the deadline to three days.
