German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius gives a statement at the EU Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Brussels | Photo: Ansgar Haase/dpa
Brussels: German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Tuesday unveiled a roadmap for how to achieve a potential new NATO target for defence spending.
On the sidelines of a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels, Pistorius outlined a plan for Germany to increase military expenditure as a ratio of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 0.2 percentage points per year over a period of seven years.
This would allow German defence spending to reach 3.5% of economic output by 2032, up from the current 2.1%. The figure would match the target proposed by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for ordinary military expenditure, well beyond the current goal of 2%.
In addition, Rutte has proposed that a target of 1.5% be included for defence-related expenditure on infrastructure that can be used for military ends, such as railways, bridges and ports. Together, this would create a combined goal of 5%, in line with U.S. President Donald Trump’s wishes.
A new target is set to be agreed at the NATO summit in the Dutch city of The Hague in June.
Pistorius argued the aim is “not about achieving the 5% in one year,” but increasing NATO’s military capacity.
The spending would require a massive financial commitment by NATO countries.
In Germany, the infrastructure expenditure could be financed, at least in part, by a special €500 billion ($560 billion) fund agreed earlier this year. According to figures from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, spending 5% of German output on defence would amount to €225 billion.
Additional Reporting
The meeting was coincident with the European Council’s Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting which discussed ‘defence readiness, focusing on the implementation of the White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030, and the ReArm Europe Plan,’ according to a statement.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, told media after the meeting, “EU leaders have set out the priority areas. Now we have to translate these into real capabilities and we have put forward proposals also how to find funding and how to really increase the leverage that the Member States can use – the financial leverage. And also, the discussion was about how we can work together and how we can do the procurements together.”
Kallas said progress needed to be made by June when both the European Council and the NATO’s summit will take place.
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