2023-12-01 18:05:08
► How important is the European defense effort?
Last year, the European countries that increased their military spending the most were Sweden (+ 30%), Lithuania (+ 27%) and Spain (+ 19%). But, even if 20 out of 27 countries have increased their budget, the European Union still only devotes 1.5% of its GDP to its army, far from its stated objective of 2%. “We continue to lag behind other players,” regretted the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, on November 30 at the European Defense Agency (EDA) conference..
The countries which make the greatest effort in budgetary terms for their defense are Greece (3.9% of its GDP), followed by Lithuania (2.5%), Poland (2.2%) and Estonia. (2.2%), indicates the AED in its annual report, published the same day. France is at 1.9%. Lagging behind European countries are the Netherlands (1.1%), Austria (0.8%) and Ireland (0.2%).
European countries as a whole spent 240 billion euros on their defense in 2022, or 6% more than in 2021. However, to reach the 2% target, 75 billion euros more would have to be mobilized. .
????€240 billion – Record European defence spending in 2022
????6% on previous year
????8th year of growth
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????20 of 27???????? increased spending????Record €58 billion allocated to defence investments & procurement of new equipment.#EUdefence#EDAconf23
— European Defence Agency (@EUDefenceAgency) November 30, 2023
► Why is defense Europe struggling to get set up?
“The time has come to build a true Europe of defense”, said Charles Michel, the President of the European Council during his intervention on Thursday 30 November. But the AED conference above all noted that at a time when the threat is increasing, the EU is far from being able to present itself as a credible power.
A state of affairs due, in particular, to the « fragmentation » defense industries. “There are too many different weapons systems in Europe,” lamented the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. European armies use, for example, twelve types of tank while the United States has only one. The guns equipping the German-Dutch brigade use two different types of shells. The Ukrainian ambassador to NATO notes that her country received “more than 200 different weapon systems”which complicates their maintenance.
The lack of credibility of European defense is also linked to the lack of investment. Josep Borrell mentioned “a decade of silent disarmament” until the annexation of Crimea in 2014, which marked the beginning of the awakening. To remedy this lack of funding, Charles Michel proposes allowing individuals to subscribe to European defense bonds, intended to strengthen collective security.
► Where does the delay in military aid to Ukraine come from?
European credibility is also undermined by delays in military aid provided to Ukraine. The EU, which promised to grant one million shells to kyiv by March 2024, has delivered only 300,000 to date. The German defense minister acknowledged that the goal would probably not be achieved.
A conflict like the one taking place in Ukraine consumes a lot of ammunition and equipment. However, European defense industries have focused on high value-added equipment. “Who would have thought that we would need tanks, air defense systems today? »asks General Michiel van der Laan, Director General of the EU General Staff.
The gap with Russia appears more and more obvious: the latter has increased its military budget by 70% and has put itself into a war economy, while the European Union is still struggling to revive its defense industry, after having emptied its stocks to support the Ukrainians.
#illequipped #face #return #war