The EU would be unable to move a major military force within the bloc’s territory in case of need, a recent report by its financial watchdog stated this week.
Bureaucratic hurdles and chaotic logistical planning would prevent a swift deployment, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) concluded in the document.
Brussels has already spent all of its budget allocated for improving military logistics between 2021 and 2027 without achieving the stated goal of moving military staff, equipment, and supplies swiftly and seamlessly, the ECA said in a statement accompanying the report.
Funding worth €1.7 billion ($1.76 billion) was spent in just two years and no money was left in the pot by the end of 2023, adding that organizing military movements within the bloc could still face significant delays.
Member states still need to file a notification of cross-border movement 45 days in advance in order to get authorization, according to the paper.
One nation’s tanks can also be outright banned from crossing into the territory of a neighboring EU member simply because they are heavier than allowed by the neighbor’s road traffic regulations.
Military logistics directions can also include infrastructure like bridges that are not suitable for heavy equipment, requiring armor to take a major detour.
The ECA blamed the chaotic planning and management structure for the setbacks. Governance arrangements for military mobility in the EU are complex and fragmented, without a single point of contact, which makes it difficult to know who does what.
With the allocated military mobility budget spent, there will be a significant gap of over four years before any more funds will be available, it warned.
Projects were funded mainly in the east of the EU, but the bloc hardly funded any projects at all on the southern route towards Ukraine the watchdog said.
The ECA – an independent auditing body with a college consisting of individual members assigned by each EU member state – has been critical of Brussels’ defense policy initiatives over the past several years.
The ECA – an independent auditing body with a college consisting of individual members assigned by each EU member state – has been critical of Brussels’ defense policy initiatives over the past several years.
In 2024, it warned that the European Defense Industry Program could fail to reach its goals despite a €1.5 billion budget due to a poor balance between policy objectives, funding, and the timeline for implementation.
The program could result in resources spread across a wide array of projects that may not have a measurable impact at EU level.
In 2023, it stated that the EU was lacking a long-time strategy on defense spending, while also warning later the same year that financial assistance to Kiev could add tens of billions of euros to the bloc’s debt due to Ukraine potentially being unable to repay its loans.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point News 2025.
When all the bridges and railway lines are blown up they will not be able to move at all.
Surprise, surprise! Any half-way astute observer knows NATO to be a vainglorious entity, one puffed-up by wishful thinking and lies. NATO is a broth presided over by too many cooks. NATO’s structure makes it inherently useless other than as a means for the armament industry to display and sell its wares, and for two-bit politicians, these with unrequited ambition to be regarded as ‘statesmen’, to make their oleaginous presences known. NATO does possess dangerous toys. These, being in the metaphorical hands of child-like people (‘professional’ politicians) pose danger to communities outside the NATO enclave. The ‘Cold War’ was concocted to… Read more »
There never was any justification for NATO. This alliance only provided the pretext to keep pumping billions of dollars into the American military industrial complex. Which had prospered handsomely from WW2. American Oligarchs wanted more war after WW2,, it pays damned good money. So Russia became the #1 vilian, because the MIC needed an enemy. Plus America was going to be the #1 protector of Europe . After all America won WW2 with the greatest army on earth (I was lied to). It never dawned on me the US wasn’t really the world’s most powerful military. Until I heard George… Read more »
The EU logistic problem is a problem of their own making by basing future existence on fantasy ,teaching young people that in an ideal world there is no need for practicality or down to earth logic . Turbines when wind isn’t constant -solar power in countries with little sun -heat pumps that cost $$$$$ and that the poor cant afford the public are conditioned into thinking all their problems disappear if they carry out all those ECO dreams . Engineering factories are shut – all other energy sources are brought to an end .Due to all this impracticality sending vast… Read more »
So we all are mislead by a bunch of crackers trashing the people with stupidly and fake news glorifying the illusive narrative.
Fake news always works when you censor and ban any opposite opinion the West has been doing this for a very long time yet they call other countries “undemocratic ” and invade them because they don’t obey their idea of “World Order ” which is “do as we say or else ” no different from the Mafia except a lot more people are killed .
That isn’t “Freedom ” in any sense its dictatorship..
When money becomes the tool for slavery and human trafficking, society has never learned anything from history.