After the repair of the armies, comes the time of its transformation. While the war in Ukraine has highlighted weaknesses in the French military system, Emmanuel Macron took advantage of his wishes to the armed forces, this Friday, to announce the era of a “war economy”.
To prepare for “more brutal, more ambiguous” wars. And to answer it, “we need great means”. The President of the Republic first recalled the geography of the tensions before unveiling the main orientations of the future military programming law 2024-2030. Among them, the amount devoted to defense over the next seven years will reach 400 billion euros.
In comparison, the 2019-2025 military programming law provided for a budget of 295 billion euros. In total, these two LPMs will have led to a doubling of the means of the armies. “It is a considerable effort, unprecedented for five decades”, recognizes the Head of State.
Intelligence budget increased by 60%
Because the war in Ukraine changed everything. It pushed France, and the more restive Europeans, to devote more money to their defence. “These efforts will be in the years to come in proportion to the dangers, that is to say considerable, said Emmanuel Macron at the start of his speech. The threats are multiple and aggregate rather than follow one another. This is why the intelligence budget will increase by 60% over seven years.
The new military programming law will emphasize sovereignty, through the strengthening of its nuclear deterrent. “This is what makes France a different country in Europe. We must defend it forcefully, that means making it better understood by those it questions,” declared the Head of State. Thus, efforts to modernize French nuclear deterrence (to which 5.6 billion euros in payment appropriations are devoted in 2023) will be continued.