The EU’s call to governments: “Review spending priorities to fund the defence agenda”

Brussels – From now on, “the motto is: doing more with less.” So says Kyriakos Pierrakakis, President of the Eurogroup, who heralds the start of a new era of austerity for the EU and its eurozone countries, presented as an agenda for responsible and efficient spending. “We must spend more, spend better and spend together,” he emphasised at the conclusion of the Eurogroup meeting. Note: the call to spend more relates to the defence and security budget; for all other areas, the guiding principle is “prudence”, particularly for countries such as Italy, which have high levels of debt. This means reviewing priorities, to the detriment of all other policies. 

“Uncertainty has become the new normal in the global economy,” continues the President of the Eurogroup. Faced with these changing circumstances, “Europe must ensure its own security, as it can no longer rely on the United States. That is why the call is to spare no expense on defence and to be cost-conscious in all other areas. 

This is the approach, and there is no turning back. The Commissioner for the Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, also emphasises this: the security agenda is essential “at a time when fiscal manoeuvre is limited and public finances are under pressure due to competing priorities.” Therefore, “to support increased defence spending, Member States will need to reorder the priorities in their national budgets gradually.” 

Governments will therefore have to ensure that the public accepts that public funding for sectors such as transport, healthcare, and education will have to be reduced and cut to make way for the defence industry. Dombrovskis insists: “The national safeguard clause offers flexibility until 2028. Therefore, planning for this reordering of priorities cannot be postponed.“ 

On the subject of industrial defence strategy, Dombrovskis continues, “joint procurement and the acquisition of defence systems in Europe remain excessively fragmented, with Member States continuing to a large extent to procure on a national basis.” It follows that “intensifying joint procurement will be crucial to strengthening European production capacity in the defence sector.”