Centre for European Reform  Time to Bite the Bullet on European
Defence  Europe’s military spending is in free fall. As
highlighted during a seminar organised by the CER in December as
part of the FR-UK Defence Forum, the EU countries combined have
reduced defence spending from €200 to €170 billion since the
start of the economic crisis in 2008. In response, governments
have signed up to a variety of new bilateral and multilateral
initiatives. These are designed to limit the impact of budget
cuts on their armed forces. But so far, the savings incurred
pale in comparison. At the December discussions, participants
estimated them at €200 to €300 million. Many sensitivities
relating to national security make it hard for governments to
implement collaborative defence efforts. But at a time when
Europe’s neighbourhood is replete with instability and the
United States is scaling back its own armed forces, Europeans
need to do more to stem the damage to their militaries.
Notwithstanding their budget cuts, taken toge