During the past few years, the EU has significantly stepped up its considerations towards security and defence related matters. The CEDC states unanimously support a more resilient and proactive Europe which includes the EU asserting itself as a stronger and more capable geopolitical actor. With an invigorated Common Security and Defence Policy, special attention was also directed to resilience and credibility, and military mobility itself lies at the heart of these efforts
Since 2018, military mobility has featured high on the agenda in both the EU and NATO, especially through the PESCO project on military mobility. However, improving the mobility of the armed forces relies to a large extent on steps taken at the national and regional level, emphasising the need for sustained cooperation on military mobility, including through the CEDC platform.
Following the Slovenian initiative on establishing stronger ties among the CEDC military experts on military mobility, the Republic of Croatia’s CEDC Presidency decided to further build upon the results of the last year’s Military Mobility Workshop by organizing the subsequent Worksop.
Military Mobility Workshop was held on 17 June 2021 via videoconference, primarily focusing on the legislation issues that impact military mobility among CEDC member states.
The CEDC military experts discussed a wide range of topics, including but not limited to cooperation with civilian institutions, current state of play regarding the projects and initiatives on military mobility, border crossing and customs procedures, diplomatic clearances, Host Nation Support and transport infrastructure.
By sharing ideas and national experiences, the CEDC experts on military mobility showed their determination to jointly identify innovative solutions to speed up the improvement of military mobility within the EU as well as to spot the areas where the procedures and logistical processes can be further enhanced in order to overcome remaining infrastructural, legal and regulatory barriers that hamper the transportation of military units in Europe.