EU ready to spend more on rearmament, at the expense of strategies against climate crisis

Less green and more green… but military. Europe cannot find 400 billion to prevent climate disasters and health crises , but is preparing to spend 613 to provide for its armed defense . This seems to be the current trend in Europe, with the decision to increase defense spending within NATO to 5% of GDP: a greater number of tanks, bombers, missiles and less investment in the energy transition. The New Economics Foundation (NEF), a think tank based in London, has calculated how much the rearmament effort will impact the European Union's climate policies.

In an analysis written on the eve of the NATO summit in The Hague, it is written: “Choosing weapons instead of addressing climate disaster and social fragility is not an economic necessity, it is a political failure” . The very harsh judgment is based on precise numbers: “The members of the European Union and NATO will be asked to increase their defense budgets by 613 billion euros per year to reach the overall target of 5%, equal to 3.4% of the entire EU GDP”, write the experts of the New Economics Foundation. “To reach only the 3.5% target for defense (to which is added 1.5% for infrastructure and digital defense, ed. ), an additional 360 billion euros per year would be needed, equal to 2% of the EU GDP. And all this would be added to military spending that has already increased by 59% in Central and Western Europe between 2015 and 2024.

In the meantime,” concludes the London-based foundation, “the investment gap needed to meet the Union’s green and social goals, including climate change mitigation , healthcare and housing , is estimated at between 2.1 and 2.9% of EU GDP, or between €375 billion and €526 billion per year (in 2024 prices)”. A commitment that will also involve sacrifices and fiscal crackdowns, according to analysts: “Only 10 EU member states – Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden – could meet the overall NATO target of 3.5% without cutting budgets elsewhere, raising taxes or changing fiscal rules”.

And the other 17, including Italy? Cuts and taxes. So far, the appeals of those who have pointed out that Europe's security is not built with cannons, but with its energy autonomy, as demonstrated by the Russian gas crisis, Trump's "blackmail" to buy more US liquefied gas, the fibrillations in the Middle East always linked to oil and its routes, have been useless. Emancipating ourselves from those who control the taps of fossil fuels would be the first step towards a new idea of ​​defense. But only Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez has had the strength to impose his point of view, defining the increase in the contribution to NATO as incompatible with the Spanish welfare state and with his vision of the world. And reiterating that green and social investments offer higher returns than defense spending and are essential for long-term security and resilience.