The political momentum around the adoption of the opinion on the future of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) presented by ECR Vice-President Juraj Droba was further reinforced by the participation of Roberts Zīle, Vice‑President of the European Parliament and ECR Group MEP, at the ECR CoR Group meeting, held ahead of the May plenary session. The meeting proved once again the excellent cooperation within the ECR political family in ensuring that EU legislation is based on local and regional needs as well as on common-sense driven policies. 

Invited as a guest speaker, Vice‑President Zīle contributed to the ECR Group discussion by sharing his perspectives on CEF support for military mobility, dual‑use infrastructure and regional connectivity challenges. His intervention was particularly timely, as the territorial dimension of CEF and the involvement of regions and cities are becoming central to debates on Europe’s security, resilience and strategic autonomy. 

Speaking on military mobility, Vice-President Zīle underlined that “Europe needs a real ‘military Schengen’, fewer procedures, faster decisions and the ability to move forces swiftly where they are needed describing it is "a matter of security,” stressing the need to "cut red tape" and ensure that infrastructure investments deliver "concrete results" on the ground.