The European Commission has unveiled a new military mobility package designed to allow troops and heavy equipment to move across the European Union far more quickly, replacing a patchwork of national procedures with what officials describe as a step towards a “military Schengen”.
Presented in Brussels on Wednesday, the draft regulation would introduce the first EU-wide legal framework for cross-border military transport. National authorisation systems for moving convoys, ammunition and other materiel would be harmonised into a single process with a maximum turnaround of three days in peacetime, compared with current procedures that in some cases can stretch to several weeks.
The plan forms part of a broader effort to ensure that European forces can reinforce exposed frontiers rapidly in the event of a crisis linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Commission and the High Representative aim to create an “EU-wide military mobility area” by 2027, aligned with NATO standards and building on the 2024 Military Mobility Pledge and earlier action plans to remove regulatory and logistical obstacles.
The fast movement of Europe’s militaries is essential for European defence.
We have to ensure that forces can be in the right place and at the right time.
It is quite simple: the faster we can move forces, the stronger our deterrence and defence.
Today, we propose new ways… pic.twitter.com/VpCsmK5hYf
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) November 19, 2025
At the heart of the package is a new emergency tool, the European Military Mobility Enhanced Response System (EMERS). Once activated by EU governments in Council, EMERS would trigger fast-track procedures in situations such as an armed attack on a member state or a wider security emergency. Under the scheme, transit permits for allied forces would have to be granted within six hours, priority access to key routes would be guaranteed, and certain restrictions – including driving-time rules or environmental limits – could be temporarily waived. A request to activate EMERS could be made either by a member state or by the Commission, with the Council required to take a decision within 48 hours.
According to the Commission, EMERS is intended to complement NATO planning rather than duplicate it. The emergency procedures would apply to forces operating under EU or NATO command on EU territory and are designed to ensure that administrative barriers do not delay military reinforcements in the first hours of a crisis.
A second pillar of the initiative focuses on infrastructure. The Commission and member states have identified around 500 bottlenecks on Europe’s road, rail, port and airport network that are not suited to carrying modern heavy armour or large convoys, including bridges with insufficient load-bearing capacity and tunnels too narrow or low for oversized vehicles. Upgrading these dual-use routes is expected to require investment of about 100 billion euros. Many of the projects fall along four priority military mobility corridors running broadly north–south and east–west across the continent.
To coordinate implementation, the draft foresees the creation of a Military Mobility Transport Group bringing together national authorities, the Commission and EU agencies. A solidarity pool would allow member states to share scarce transport assets such as heavy-lift rail wagons and specialised trailers, while a possible Military Mobility Digital Information System would support planning and real-time tracking of convoys. Annual stress tests and exercises from 2026 are intended to assess whether procedures and infrastructure perform as planned under crisis conditions.
Funding for the new measures is to come largely from existing EU instruments, notably the Connecting Europe Facility for transport and the European Defence Fund. For the 2028–2034 multiannual financial framework, the Commission is proposing to ring-fence roughly 17.5 billion euros for military mobility, a tenfold increase on current levels. The package sits alongside a wider Defence Industry Transformation Roadmap and the Readiness 2030 initiative, which seek to strengthen Europe’s defence industrial base and reduce dependence on external suppliers.
The proposal now moves to the Council and the European Parliament, where governments and MEPs will scrutinise the legal text and the financing arrangements. Any regulation would need to balance the requirement for rapid military transit with national competences in areas such as transport safety, customs, policing and environmental protection. The Commission’s stated objective is to have the core framework in place in time for infrastructure upgrades and digital systems to be operational before the end of the decade.
Belgian MEP Wouter Beke, from the centre-right CD&V party, welcomed the Commission’s initiative and underlined Belgium’s position as a logistical hub for both NATO and EU operations. He argued that the plans should be used to relaunch long-discussed cross-border rail projects such as the Iron Rhine/3RX link between the port of Antwerp-Bruges, the Netherlands and Germany, which he says would improve both commercial freight flows and strategic mobility. Beke is due to host a European Parliament event in December on the role of resilient concrete paving in military mobility, reflecting growing interest in how civilian infrastructure is adapted to defence requirements.
