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The bloc’s infrastructure is not yet ready for the rapid mobility of military troops and equipment across the continent. An initial €70 billion is needed to urgently make it fit for purpose, the EU’s Defence Commissioner told Euronews in an exclusive interview.
ADVERTISEMENTThe EU will need an initial investment of €70 billion to urgently adapt its rail, road, sea, and air corridors to facilitate the swift movement of troops and equipment across the bloc in the event of conflict, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius told Euronews in an interview. The European Commission has already identified 500 hot-spot projects – including the expansion of ports and airports, the widening of tunnels, and the reinforcement of railway bridges – that will need to be updated for short-notice, large-scale movements of personnel and equipment within the EU and to partner countries. “We need to develop that infrastructure according to NATO planning. Then we need to see also the need to establish a very effective defence or protection of those strategically important infrastructure points, and in addition to that, we need to look into legal requirements,” the former Lithuanian prime minister said. Military mobility is not only about having the defence equipment and troops but also about having the capacity to quickly mobilise them to act as a deterrent against any potential attacker. Red tape, non-harmonised procedures, and a lack of adequate infrastructure are currently hindering the EU’s and its allies’ armed forces’ ability to future-proof themselves efficiently against any potential aggression. For example, tanks from one member state were denied passage through another due to exceeding weight limits set by road traffic regulations, the EU’s financial watchdog said in a recent report. The idea of creating a Schengen area for the military has been making the rounds for a decade, but following Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, it has gained new momentum, particularly now that the EU is rearming itself and ramping up its defence capabilities. “When the war comes, you need to have your industry developed on a high level in order to maintain, repair, and produce new weapons. And you also need to have such an industry not far away from a possible conflict zone,” Kubilius argued. To accelerate Europe’s independent deterrence and support for Ukraine, the bloc and its member states will have to “immediately simplify and streamline regulations and procedures and ensure priority access for the armed forces to transport facilities, networks, and assets,” according to the white paper on defence readiness published last week. The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, and Kubilius will review all existing legislation impacting military mobility, map and upgrade all the necessary critical transport infrastructure, and adopt a joint communication on the matter later this year. Could unused EU funds for transport be repurposed for this goal?44% of the EU’s military mobility budget went to Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany, and the total allocation for 2021-207 remains relatively modest compared to the real needs, Tony Murphy, president of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), warned last month. Moreover, following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU allocated the entire €1.7 billion budget by the end of 2023 as a political signal, creating a potential funding gap of more than four years until the next budgetary period, the Luxembourg-based EU financial watchdog warned. The European Commission will likely present a proposal for member states to be able to use unspent cohesion funds for defence later this week – and the same could happen with unspent transport funds, Kubilius said. “We should look for all the possibilities (…) because the investment into the defence industry is also an investment in economic development. It’s the creation of new jobs,” the Commissioner stressed. Kubilius did not commit to any particular allocation for defence and security under the next EU long-term budget (the so-called Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-34) but pointed to the added value of the existing EU programs for defence. “We can bring really very needed added value, especially incentivising joint procurement, incentivising more European procurement, incentivising more NATO standards and interoperability,” Kubilius said, adding: “But those programs need to have also financial power.”
