Europe needs to carry out a rearmament amounting to several hundred billion euros in the coming years. Where will the money come from – and on what should they be spent? This was discussed at a webinar on 2 April.
Europe needs to rearm in order to replace the American security guarantee that has been in place since World War II. This will entail very high costs, with calculations indicating several hundred billion euros in the next few years.
On 19 March 2025, the European Commission presented its Joint White Paper for European Defence Readiness 2030. The Commission’s proposal includes a financial package worth up to €800 billion. Of these, up to €650 billion would be invested by the Member States, whose investments would fall under country-specific exemptions in the EU fiscal framework; while €150 billion would fund common procurement, financed by loans backed by the EU budget.
This webinar discussed the Commission's White Paper and the European Council's conclusions, but above all the ways forward to finance a European defence that also may include countries outside the EU.
