“turnaround in the financing of the Bundeswehr”
In order to meet the military’s changed range of tasks, the German government
initiated a “turnaround in the financing of the Bundeswehr”.
It confirmed the aim
to meet the NATO spending target as well as the commitment to allocate 20% of
defence spending on equipment. In 2016, German defence minister von der
Leyen (CDU) identified massive investment needs of EUR 130 bn until 2030 in
order to modernise the equipment of Germany’s armed forces. Reversing
previous trend, also the number of Germany’s military personnel was earmarked
to rise by around 10% to almost 200,000 until 2024.
Big question marks remain,
however, regarding the alignment of Germany’s ambitious plans to strengthen
its military capabilities with current budgetary planning as well as their
resonance with the German populace.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18.d:71/nws-01