EU countries will not be able to move their troops quickly within the union in the event of armed conflict.
This writes Der Spiegel magazine with reference to a special report of the European Court of Auditors.
It is noted that the action plan, adopted by the EU in November 2022, failed because the EC did not conduct an assessment of funding before its drafting.
‘As a result, the already ‘rather small’ €1.7bn budget earmarked for improving the effectiveness of the armed forces is empty by the end of 2023,’ the publication said.
In addition, the funding gap will continue until the end of 2027.
According to the publication, bureaucratic obstacles have been noticed in such projects. For example, tanks from one EU country cannot move on the territory of another if they are heavier than allowed by local road traffic laws.
As Der Spiegel points out, in such a case the heavy equipment needs to make a big detour on its way to another country of the union, otherwise an important bridge may collapse.
Earlier, the EU recognised that NATO would not be able to protect Europe from Russia without US involvement.
