EU Military Mobility Package addresses long-standing weaknesses in Europe’s transport networks

Addressing Europe’s transport networks will have major impact on logistics sector.

A €17 billion EU Military Mobility Package currently being prepared by the European Commission aims to address the long-standing weaknesses in the continent’s transport networks and could benefit the entire European road and rail sector.

The initiative aims to enhance defense readiness and supply chain resilience in response to the biggest threat to the continent’s security since WW2 – the expansionist designs of Putin’s Russia.

NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, has warned that Russia could attack one of the European members of the defense alliance by 2030.

‘Dual-Use’ Benefits’

The upcoming Package, for which provision is made in the bloc’s budget for the period 2028-2034, will “address existing infrastructure bottlenecks, procedural barriers, and capability gaps. It is expected to define strategic objectives, harmonize national procedures, and strengthen the resilience of key transport infrastructure. These measures will facilitate military mobility across Europe while aligning with broader EU policy objectives in areas such as transport,” the European Commission noted.

“The additional investment will undoubtedly have ‘dual-use’ benefits for the private sector as bottlenecks are widened and new port facilities, roads and railways are constructed,” commented John Manners-Bell, founder and CEO of Transport Intelligence (Ti).

The Brussels-based European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services (CLECAT), said that it “welcomed the EU’s continued commitment to strengthening defense preparedness and infrastructure resilience.”

However, it emphasized “the need for transparent and coordinated planning, particularly in the designation of ‘hotspot’ corridors and the possible reservation of capacity.”

Infrastructure Unsuitable for Rapid Movement of Troops/Weapons

In an interview in The Financial Times, European Transport commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, explained that Europe’s current infrastructure - roads, bridges, and railways- are not suitable for the rapid movement of tanks, troops, and military supplies across the continent in the event of war with Russia.

“We have old bridges that need to be modernized. We have narrow bridges that need to be widened, and we have non-existent bridges that need to be built.

“The reality today is that if we want to move military equipment and troops from western Europe to the east, it takes weeks and in some cases months,”

The EU is thus working on a strategy that will enable troops to be deployed “within hours, at most days” in response to an attack. In collaboration with NATO, it entails upgrading 500 infrastructure projects, unspecified for security reasons, along four military corridors across the continent.

To support this, it launched a call for evidence and a targeted stakeholder consultation which ran from June until the end of August 2025, with the aim of shaping the content of the Package.

Defense Spending Surge

Tzitzikostas said the military mobility plan would complement the agreement by EU NATO members to increase their defense spending target to 5% of GDP- more than half the current percentage – following criticism from President Trump that they were not contributing enough financially to the alliance.

“We can no longer be unprepared or dependent on others,” Tzitzikostas observed.

Manners-Bell also emphasized that the prospective surge in European defense budgets and the measures to improve transport and logistics infrastructure set out in the Package go hand in hand.

“Spending enormous sums of money on weaponry is futile if armaments cannot be moved effectively to the front line – in this case the eastern borders of the EU.”

However, the Package is far from being “a done deal”. While the European Commission has proposed a €17 billion investment some members of the 27-member bloc are less committed than others and tough negotiations lie ahead to a backdrop of budgetary pressures which could result in the amount being reduced.

Inauguration of Europe’s Biggest Munitions Plant

Certainly, increased military expenditure on the scale envisaged would transform Europe’s armaments industry, sending production output soaring in the coming years and with it a potentially significant increase in demand for specialized logistics services, including Project and Heavylift.

A study earlier this year by management consultant Kearney estimated that an increase in defense spending to only 3% of GDP would require up to 760,000 new skilled workers in Europe – a clear indication of the size the industry could swell to.

There are numerous examples of defense industry firms already being engaged in a hiring spree. Germany’s Rheinmetall, is reported to be boosting its workforce by around 29%, or up to 9,000 people, by 2028.

At the end of August, Rheinmetall inaugurated Europe’s biggest munitions production plant in Europe, near Hanover, which has attracted investment of nearly €500 million, which will produce 155 mm shells.

Meanwhile, faced with shrinking demand in their core business, German automakers like Volkswagen and Daimler, are said to be mulling a greater presence in military vehicle production.

‘Far-Reaching Effects on Logistics Sector’

FreightAmigo, a digital supply chain finance platform, claimed on its website that the boom in the European defense industry was likely to have “far-reaching effects on the logistics sector.”

There would be a greater need for cross-border specialized container shipping and freight transport services, while the industry’s stringent security measures would create new challenges and opportunities for LSPs.

The management of complex and intricate supply chains, necessitating advanced logistics coordination, will become a much sought-after skill, it added.

‘New Level of Urgency’

Major LSPs are already well-established in military logistics with considerable expertise related to existing contracts, Manners-Bell noted.

“However, the new level of urgency is encouraging a greater level of engagement across Europe, for example, in Germany, between the federal armed forces, the Bundeswehr and rail freight operator, DB Cargo and in Poland, between the military and rail and multi-modal freight group PKP Cargo, especially with joint exercises.”

Other examples come from the UK, where the Ministry of Defense (MOD)signed an agreement this year with Associated British Ports (ABP) to give it access to its ports as well as investing in a specific facility.

More recently, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)with logistics players DHL Supply Chain, GXO, Maersk and defense services group Serco, to explore ways of enabling the rapid mobilization of the logistics sector’s workforce in times of national crisis.

The agreement also reflects the increasing reliance of modern defense strategies on private sector know-how and capacity.

For road freight operators, the MoU opens not only the possibility of a pipeline of regular business opportunities, indeed partnerships with government bodies, but also responsibilities, for example, maintaining readiness for surge deployment under challenging conditions.