The ECR Group welcomes today’s joint vote in the European Parliament’s Security and Defence and Transport and Tourism Committees on new EU rules to make the movement of military personnel, equipment and supplies across Europe faster, simpler and more effective.

The file, co-led in the Transport and Tourism Committee by ECR Co-Rapporteur Roberts Zīle, aims to cut unnecessary red tape, speed up cross-border authorisations, simplify customs procedures and strengthen dual-use transport infrastructure. For the ECR Group, this is a long overdue step towards a real Military Schengen, ensuring that Europe’s armed forces can move across the continent as allies and comrades-in-arms within the NATO framework.

Roberts Zīle, ECR co-rapporteur in the Transport and Tourism Committee, said:

“Europe’s security depends not only on the strength of our armed forces, but also on their ability to move when and where they are needed. This is especially important for the EU’s eastern Member States, where delays at borders or infrastructure bottlenecks are not administrative inconveniences, but strategic vulnerabilities.

A Military Schengen is long overdue. Today’s vote brings us closer to a Europe that can react faster, deter more credibly, and support NATO more effectively.”

Alexandr Vondra, ECR shadow rapporteur in the Security and Defence Committee, said:

“Russia’s war against Ukraine has shown that military mobility is a core element of defence readiness. Troops, equipment and supplies must not be held back by fragmented procedures or outdated infrastructure.

Europe’s armies are not strangers at each other’s borders; they are partners in a common defence effort. By improving military mobility, we are strengthening Europe’s resilience, reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank, and making clear that Europe is serious about its own security.”