Commission supports military mobility projects with €807 million

The European Commission will fund 38 additional military mobility projects to support the transport of troops and equipment along the trans-European transport network (TEN-T). With a budget of €807 million, these projects will upgrade key transport infrastructure in the EU so that it has dual use – for both civilian and defence transport. This was the third and final military mobility call for proposals under CEF Transport 2021-2027. In total, the Commission is supporting 95 military mobility projects with €1.74 billion.

In line with the Action plan on military mobility 2.0, the projects will support Member States and partners to develop a well-connected and secure military mobility network. Examples include the construction and upgrade of railway infrastructure in Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Projects will improve dual-use infrastructure in maritime ports in Belgium and Sweden, airports in Latvia and Lithuania, and inland waterways in France.

Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean said: “The results of the third and final military mobility call under CEF Transport show that there is a clear need for Member States to improve the dual use of our transport system. We received 112 proposals, which means a 4.5 times oversubscription, and we have selected projects from 18 Member States. All the funded projects will contribute to a better European infrastructure and will complete the missing links, for both military and civilian use.”

With the three calls carried out in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the €1.69 billion envelope foreseen for Military Mobility in the 2021-2027 CEF has been used up. Given Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Member States agreed to frontload Military Mobility envelope budget in order to accelerate and maximise support to such dual-use military and civilian transport infrastructure projects. An overall of 95 projects were selected and are now underway in 21 Member States of the European Union.

Following approval of these 38 projects by the EU Member States, the Commission will adopt the financing decision and CINEA will then start preparing the grant agreements. Further financing opportunities are available through the 2023 CEF Transport call for proposals, open until 30 January 2024.