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News from Brussels
Europe needs to move faster on military mobility, parliamentary rapporteur Roberts Zīle told Euractiv, calling for the measures initially tabled by the Commission to ensure fast movement of troops and equipment across the bloc to be brought forward.
Zīle and Michał Szczerba, the other rapporteur on military mobility, want, for instance, to get the digital platform that will operate all transit permits to be ready by 2028, instead of 2030 as per the Commission text and Council draft.
Zīle said on Thursday that some countries already have systems in operation, including the Secure Digital Military Mobility System (SDMMS) used by 11 capitals, and that it therefore makes no sense to design a new system from scratch.
The two rapporteurs have also called on countries to appoint national coordinators within three months, instead of the six months proposed by the Commission. These coordinators would act as a single point of contact to review and submit transit requests.
“We met with the Latvian ministry of defence, and they already have people ready” to assume the role, the former transport minister of Latvia said, adding that appointing coordinators should be a quick and easy task, given most EU members are part of NATO.
“We don’t know why the Council would need so much time to nominate national coordinators,” he added.
Risk of watering down the emergency response?
At the heart of the negotiations lies an emergency instrument, dubbed EMERS, which would lift all cross-border restrictions and give the military priority access to infrastructure and transport. Member states want to be able to limit the emergency mechanism to specific regions, which Zīle said has not been discussed by MEPs.
“How will a military convoy go from point A to point B?” he questioned, if the mechanism does not apply to the whole bloc.
Another possible hurdle in inter-institutional negotiations is that countries want to be able to restrict the transit of foreign military through their borders even under the emergency mechanism.
“Bilateral obstacles to move military, freight and personal quicker will damage the system,” Zīle said.
Financial compensation
Finally, the two rapporteurs have floated the idea of financial compensation for infrastructure owners, operators and managers affected by the triggering of EMERS, but Zile said that it remains unclear who would pay.
“To put all the burden for compensation at the member state level is not very fair,” he said, suggesting negotiators could discuss a “solidarity principle”.
The rapporteurs will next meet on 19 May and 16 June to discuss the more than 1,100 amendments, with the aim of reaching a final position ahead of a first trilogue in July under the Irish presidency of the Council.
MEPs are discussing the text by blocks, starting with EMERS and the Military Mobility Transport group, the new body designed to help implement the regulation.
Zīle said MEPs across the board want a fast implementation of the regulation. “If the Council won’t be ready, we have discussed with the Irish transport minister … they would like to go ahead with the file of course.”