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EU states are planning to spend hundreds of billions more to re-equip militaries by 2030, aiming to deter Vladimir Putin and address hybrid threats from Russia.
EU states are collectively planning to spend hundreds of billions of euro more to re-equip their militaries between now and the end of the decade in an effort to deter Vladimir Putin from contemplating an attack beyond Ukraine. An escalating campaign of hybrid interference and sabotage traced back to Russia has further focused minds in European capitals about the eastern threat.
Background: EU Defense Cooperation Evolves
Traditionally defense was not high on the EU agenda. National governments closely guarded their sovereignty over security matters. Co-operation on military planning was left to Nato, which brings together most European countries, the US, Canada and Turkey.
The EU institutions, particularly the European Commission, have started playing a greater role, at the urging of national capitals. A plan by EU leaders last year committed to substantially increase the amount spent on defence. Countries will club together to place bulk orders for arms and equipment. This joint procurement will ideally bring down the overall cost and make it easier for different armed forces to operate beside each other.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm that proposes laws, has since financed €150 billion of cheap loans for governments to boost defence investment. In recent days the bloc’s 27 member states settled on five big ticket items to push EU funding towards gaps in Europe’s defences.
The common projects include plans to toughen security along the EU’s eastern flank; develop an integrated air defence system; increase drone production; and improve the detection of threats at sea. European space satellite networks will also be expanded to provide intelligence and an early missile warning system under the plans.
National Submissions Reveal Priorities
It is rare to get a frank insight into national governments’ internal thinking on security matters. However, more than a dozen submissions from member states to an EU white paper on defence were released to The Irish Times, in response to access-to-information requests. The commission initially refused to release the defence submissions. That decision was partially overturned following an appeal by The Irish Times.
They reveal how different governments sought to shape Brussels’ shift towards what has been called a defence union. Germany favoured removing operational obstacles holding up closer EU-Nato co-operation. Europe’s security order was under attack and Russia posed an existential threat, Berlin wrote in a February 2025 paper shared with the European Commission.
The Netherlands’ submission to Brussels said the lack of an integrated air defence system to shoot down missiles was the most urgent gap. We have to protect populations, vital interests, territory and armed forces from the entire spectrum of air and missile threats, the Dutch policy paper said.
Italy proposed fostering a European defence culture by running more joint training exercises. Prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s government said armed forces should further integrate and become interoperable, with common standards. The input from Rome said finding ways to free up funds for defence investment would be key.
The submissions fed into a resulting white paper that informed European Commission president von der Leyen’s landmark rearm plan to increase defence spending across Europe. The emerging concept of a defence union offered the exciting possibility for deeper co-operation, the Spanish government said in its private submission.
Denmark said the EU’s €1.2 trillion common budget could help de-risk investment in defence projects and encourage private investors. Pool our resources – spend together. Co-ordination of how we spend the sharply increasing national defence spending across Europe and Allies is key, the Danish position paper said.
Austria, a neutral country, told the commission it supported pooling resources to finance big projects, such as a European air defence shield. An internal paper from Luxembourg said the EU should make it attractive for businesses and start-ups to get into the defence market. The Swedish government talked about a new era of co-operation with Nato, and how the alliance and the EU had mutually reinforcing but different roles. France and several other countries successfully argued that their contributions should be kept confidential on national security grounds, while there is no indication that Ireland made a submission.
Challenges and Future of EU Defense Union
The shift towards a defence union poses challenges for the EU, which was established as a peace project after the second World War. A founding idea was to make another conflict between Germany and France impossible by binding their economies together. Much has changed since.
Russia’s grinding war in Ukraine, which has been the deadliest on the Continent since the second World War, coupled with a US administration openly hostile to its western allies, has pressed governments to consider Europe’s ability to defend itself.
European Union Defense Spending Russia Nato Ukraine European Commission Vladimir Putin
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