Karu report on military mobility: design bad and money used wrong

In a crisis, it is important that soldiers and equipment can be quickly transferred from one EU country to another in order to receive and improve the reliability of supply.

Military mobility is particularly important for Finland located at the back of the bag and in Russia’s armpit such as Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (cooked) Monday in Brussels said.

However, a report on military mobility, published on Wednesday, revealed by the European Court of Auditors (ECA), reveals that EU soldiers and equipment are not yet able to move rapidly throughout the EU.

According to the report, it takes 45 days from the Member States to authorize cross -border transfer of equipment in normal circumstances.

Practical problems are illustrated, for example, by the fact that tanks traveling from one EU to another could not pass through another country if they are heavier than the country’s road traffic rules.

In the second case, heavy military equipment could not use an EU country base to access the light traffic bridge and had to use a much longer detour.

The money used

Attempts have been made to promote military mobility in the EU for years.

The Commission issued the first action plan in 2018 and updated the second plan after a large -scale Russian offensive war in November 2022, when the improvement in military mobility became the urgent strategic focus of the EU.

For the first time in 2021-2027, a $ 1.7 billion appropriation was earmarked for projects in military and civilian transport infrastructure projects.

The European Auditing Court’s report published on Wednesday states that promoting military mobility has been “varied”. There have been problems, for example, in financing assessment and complexity of administrative arrangements. For this reason, for example, it has been difficult for the Ministries of Defense to know who in the EU is doing something to promote military mobility.

In addition, until 2027, the budgeted EUR 1.7 billion funds had already been distributed by the end of 2023.

A total of 95 projects have been funded by EU funds in 21 Member States.

The report states that the Commission has not sufficiently taken into account the geopolitical and military factors when deciding which infrastructure projects are funded.

According to the Court, the projects have been scattered and the overall picture has not been taken into account in the selection.

Repair suggestions

In order to advance the EU in promoting military mobility, the Audit Court Inspectors propose that the management and allocation of the EU military mobility will be enhanced and the forecastability of financing is improved.

As the money reserved for military mobility is out of stock, inspectors propose that the EU could use the use of existing EU funds for civilian resources to eliminate military mobility bottlenecks.

According to the Auditing Court, the amount of EU funding is central to how much the Union can be expected to have an influence on the choices on military mobility.

“Military mobility is crucial to the credibility of the EU’s defense, and we have to act faster, says a member of the European Court of Auditors, says the report, the report, says the report. Marek Opioła.

Commission’s response

The Commission spokesman said on Wednesday that the Commission took into account the criticism of the Audit Court’s report.

According to the spokesman, the Commission intends to focus on simplifying regulation and infrastructure investment needs and strives to work with NATO.

The Commission is also promised that the Member States will be assessed to assess investment needs, which guides and prioritizes the implementation of future projects and the necessary resources.