JOINT COMMUNICATION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

Improving Military Mobility in the European Union

1. Introduction

The security of Europe's citizens is a priority for the Union, and an issue they expect the EU to address. The EU has taken a range of initiatives to enable Europeans to take more responsibility for their own security. In 2016, the Global Strategy for EU Foreign and Security Policy called for a more effective, responsive and joined-up Union, capable of pursuing EU's shared interests and priorities in promoting peace and guaranteeing the security of its citizens and territory. In order to further help meet Europe’s current and future needs, the European Defence Action Plan committed the Commission to work with other EU relevant actors to increase coherence and synergies between defence issues and other Union policies where an EU added-value exists. The European Council has recognised that significant progress has been made in the area of security and defence. In June 2017, the Reflection Paper on the Future of European Defence set out the momentum of EU action on defence. In his State of the Union address of 13 September 2017, President Juncker stressed the imperative of creating a fully-fledged European Defence Union by 2025. Each of these initiatives serves a single purpose: to build a Union that protects.

To protect the Union and its citizens in today’s unpredictable security environment, the EU will take the steps which are necessary to ensure its ability to react effectively and in timely manner to internal and external crisis situations, including by enhancing its preparedness and resilience. In this context Member States are also working towards deepening their defence cooperation, including through the Permanent Structured Cooperation as provided for in the Treaties. There is both an opportunity and a strategic need to fully exploit civilian/military synergies to expedite military mobility – both within our borders as well as with a view to rapidly deploying military operations abroad.

It is for Member States to decide in full sovereignty whether troops from another country can enter their territory. But in order to be prepared for crises including through military exercises and to react to them, it is necessary to ensure that those decisions can be taken fast and that, when taken, troops and equipment can move swiftly and smoothly. Moreover, the security and defence policy of certain Member States has a specific character which needs to be respected.

In this context, the rapid and swift movement of military personnel and equipment across the EU is currently hampered by a number of physical, legal and regulatory barriers, such as infrastructure that cannot support the weight of a military vehicle or cumbersome customs and other procedures. As experienced during recent major military exercises, such barriers can thus lead to delays, disruptions, higher costs and increased vulnerability. Due to the specific status of armed forces and equipment, military mobility is legally bound by a wide range of national decisions and EU rules that determine whether national and international movements are possible. A wider range of policy areas may be relevant (home affairs, justice, economy and finance, labour, transport, defence, customs, environment, health). NATO also provides standards and procedures in this area for its members. Issues range from customs to the requirements for safe and secure transport of persons and military equipment including the transport of dangerous goods, aspects of liability including environmental legislation, from the physical and legal protection of personnel to the availability and adequacy of relevant transport infrastructure. Given the legislative and physical framework, it is often difficult for the military to respond as quickly as can be needed. It is therefore important to examine the measures that should be taken to improve processes, in full respect to the sovereignty of Member States and in accordance with the EU Treaties and legislation.

While most measures are and will be in the hands of Member States, there are ways in which the EU can help. The purpose of this Joint Communication is therefore to set out how the EU, including with its existing policies, will work to facilitate and help to expedite military mobility ranging from day-to-day needs to strategic pre-deployment of military forces and resources, in synergy with non-military activities and without disrupting civilian use of infrastructure or avoiding unnecessary inconveniences.

2. Ongoing projects, activities and initiatives on military mobility

Several initiatives are already helping to improve military mobility in the EU context. Transport infrastructure has traditionally been a necessary component of any defence system, providing in particular routes for military supplies and troop movement. Over the years, the EU has developed an ambitious transport infrastructure policy. This area offers a clear opportunity to increase the coherence and synergies between defence issues and existing Union policies, thereby exploiting the EU’s added value, reducing unnecessary duplications and promoting a more efficient use of public money and avoiding sub-optimal investments in the longer run.

Initiatives are also under way to promote civil/military synergies based on EU policies in areas such as research, cyber security, aviation, border control and maritime surveillance as well as space. A mechanism agreed between the Commission, the European Defence Agency and Member States to initiate the development of defence and hybrid standards for dual-use products is a good example of more horizontal initiatives. Such activities could have positive spill-overs also as regards facilitating military mobility.

Member States are furthermore taking forward a number of projects in the framework of the European Defence Agency:

-In 2014 fourteen Member States decided to open a dedicated project within the European Defence Agency dedicated to an EU Multimodal Transport Hub. Those Member States have identified the need to better coordinate military movement. A Multimodal Hub Transport (M2TH) network is being developed in order to facilitate the fast movement of troops, through harmonised regulations, procedures and process as well as pooling and sharing of assets and infrastructure in Europe. Core to this project is the central coordination of movement, identifying a physical network of locations and identifying services to be provided. All is executed using simplified and harmonised procedures within the boundaries of EU legislation and national laws. Other Member States have shown interest to join this project.

-The Diplomatic Clearances Agreement initiative presents a further programme under the European Defence Agency umbrella and has led to a Diplomatic Clearances Technical Agreement in 2012. The number of participating Member States has grown to sixteen. The Technical Agreement harmonises the administrative procedures (forms and timelines) and offers the option to grant pre-emptive clearances. All Member States involved have chosen to grant the clearance, and thus the Technical Agreement becomes a full-fledged enabler for day-to-day expeditious military air transport movement in most routine cases.

NATO is also developing a number of activities to facilitate military mobility, such as work on legal instruments to facilitate freedom of movement, situational awareness of the infrastructure, improvement of rapid air mobility, as well as civil preparedness and resilience work.