Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and changed geopolitical context in Europe, military mobility has become a strategic priority for the EU. Acting upon this, the European Commission has promoted new initiatives and a significant increase in funding to adapt its transport infrastructure and simplify regulations in the face of new challenges.
It all began when the EU launched its Military Mobility policy back in November 2017. Based on this, it adopted first joint Action Plan in March 2018, focusing on upgrading the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) for dual, military and civilian use. This led to the first dedicated military mobility budget of approximately 1.7 billion euros under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the period 2021-2027. This supported the completion of 11 out of 95 identified priority infrastructure projects across all transport modes in 21 Member States.
Finally, in November 2025, the Commission has proposed a new regulation to accelerate the transport of military equipment, goods, and personnel across the EU, marking a step toward a ‘military Schengen zone’. As rail logistics plays a pivotal role in this system, with measures designed to prioritize rail military movements during crises and remove bottlenecks in cross-border transport, we decided to investigate this complex political topic from the perspective of railway transport.
