Joint Communication on the Action Plan on Military Mobility

Summary:

Joint Communication published by the European Commission and the EU's High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy on 28 March 2018, aimed at improving military mobility within and beyond the European Union (EU).

Further information:

In his State of the Union Address of 2017, the President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker stressed the imperative of creating a fully-fledged European Defence Union by 2025. The European Defence Action Plan and in particular the European Defence Fund showed the EU's commitment to take bold action in support of Member States. 25 Member States decided to include military mobility among the more binding commitments under the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), launched in December 2017. The Council of the European Union also adopted a Recommendation concerning a Roadmap for the implementation of the PESCO and a Decision establishing the list of projects to be developed in this framework, in March 2018. In December 2017, military mobility was added to the common set of proposals for the implementation of the EU-NATO Joint Declaration of July 2016. The European Council of December 2017 invited the High Representative, the Commission and the EU Member States to bring work forward on military mobility, both in the Permanent Structured Cooperation and in the context of EU-NATO cooperation.

The Action Plan identifies a series of operational measures to tackle physical, procedural or regulatory barriers which hamper military mobility. It builds on the Roadmap on Military Mobility developed in the framework of the European Defence Agency. Actions are proposed as regards:

• Military requirements;
• Transport infrastructure;
• Regulatory and procedural issues.

Official

European Commission: Speech by Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc on military mobility at the North Atlantic Council, 11 June 2018 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-18-4126_en.htm

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