OLIVIER HOSLET/EPA
Apostolos Tzitzikostas was speaking at the EU College of Commissioners in Brussels.
“You can’t defend a continent if you can’t move across it.” The European Commission’s Megaplan foresees spending of 100 billion euros.
The European Commission is preparing to move forward with the creation of a “Military Schengen” with the aim of ensuring that European troops and equipment can quickly cross the bloc’s internal borders in the event of a crisis.
The biggest change will be the response time to military transit requests: each country will have maximum three days to authorize the passage of allied forces. But in cases of emergency such as an armed attack on an EU state, this period is reduced to just six o’clock.
“You cannot defend a continent if you cannot move across it”, said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, European Commissioner for Transport and Tourism, quoted by . “It’s very clear. That’s why we’re creating this military Schengen.”
The plan about 100 billion euros includes a European rapid response system: strategic trains, ships or aircraft could be made available as quickly as possible. It also includes a catalog of civilian resources that can be used for military purposes and the improvement of critical infrastructures.
The Commission has identified around 500 priority projects essential to improving military circulation capacity through four major strategic corridors. Works on roads, railway lines, ports, airports and even tunnels and bridges will be included.
Remember that the 100 billion plan has the budget as its biggest obstacle: the current multi-annual EU budget, which runs until 2027, only includes 1.7 billion for this purpose. The proposal for the next budget cycle, starting in 2028, foresees around 18 billion, which is still a long way off.
Through Tzitzikostas, Brussels highlights that Member States will be able to combine several sources of financing, including cohesion funds and instruments linked to the defense sector. As many EU countries are also members of NATO, the investments will also serve to meet the alliance’s spending targets.
