The European Commissioner for Transport, Apostolos Dzidzikostas, already in July in the Financial Times warned that the current state of European transport infrastructure is insufficient to quickly move troops in the event of an armed conflict. He pointed to too narrow tunnels, weak bridges and other obstacles that could prevent the efficient movement of tanks, military supplies and soldiers. As he emphasized, in the event of an urgent need, such as repelling an invasion of NATO's eastern flank, the transport of troops could take not days, but weeks or even months.
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Lack of consistent regulations
The problematic situation is influenced not only by the state of the infrastructure, but also by the diversity of regulations in individual Member States. Therefore, the European Commission intends to present a project that aims to create a system to facilitate military transport in crisis situations. The plan includes, among others: priority access of the armed forces to transport infrastructure and resources in the event of armed conflicts, as well as harmonization of cross-border procedures for the transport of troops.
According to information obtained by Reuters, on Wednesday the EC may propose the introduction of uniform rules regarding permits for international military transport and the creation of the so-called “solidarity pool”. Under this mechanism, member states could share transport resources to speed up troop movements when needed.
Director of the PKP office in Brussels and civilian advisor to the NATO Transport Group, Tomasz Lachowicz, emphasizes that simplifying complex and time-consuming national procedures is crucial. According to the expert, the new military mobility package should include harmonized and digitized procedures, including: customs clearance, transportation of hazardous materials and issuing diplomatic permits. Lachowicz pointed out that currently the transport of heavy military equipment requires submitting applications well in advance – 30 days in the case of domestic transport and 60 days for international transport. “The applicable deadlines are inadequate to the needs of the army,” he said.
Billions of euros for modernization
As part of the plan, the European Commission intends to allocate EUR 17 billion to modernize transport infrastructure, which is aimed at increasing military mobility. However, unofficial reports indicate that this amount may be reduced as a result of negotiations over the new EU budget. A similar situation occurred in the past – in the previous EU budget, the initial proposal was EUR 6.5 billion, but was eventually reduced to EUR 1.6 billion. These funds are to be allocated, among others, to: for the purchase of special railway platforms for transporting tanks.
The EC project also envisages the modernization of 500 key infrastructure projects along four main transport corridors that cross Europe. The implementation of these investments is to enable the movement of troops from the west to the east of the continent within several dozen hours or several days, which will significantly shorten the current transport times.
