Assemblée parlementaire de l'OTAN
HomeMEDIA RESOURCES2009 Edinburgh Session17 November 2009 - POST-CRISIS DEFENCE SPENDING IN THE EU IS LOWER AND LESS EFFECTIVE THAN IN THE US

17 November 2009 - POST-CRISIS DEFENCE SPENDING IN THE EU IS LOWER AND LESS EFFECTIVE THAN IN THE US

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Defence budgets worldwide have taken a knock as a consequence of the global financial crisis. But as the world’s economies start to show signs of recovery, a “big disparity” is emerging between the EU and North America. This may place a strain on the North Atlantic Alliance, according to Senior Defence Economist at NATO HQ, Dr Adrian Kendry.

In a presentation given to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Sunday, Dr Kendry explained that defence research and development levels in Europe are far below those in the US and Canada.  He added that the emphasis on domestic defence investment, a natural response to the current economic conditions, was “good for the local economy but not the best use of funds”. “We have to think about collaborative defence expenditure” he added, speaking to the Assembly’s Economics and Security Committee. 

The Canadian parliamentarian Leon Benoit added that, if European defence budgets are proportionately 40% lower than in the US, the ‘effectiveness’ of this investment was only 20% in Europe as that achieved by the Americans due to the fragmentation of European Defence Markets.  “We cannot continue with the way things are now” he said in reference to this disparity in the contributions to security by the different NATO members.   

Kresimir Crosic, head of the Croation delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, suggested investing more in scientific research to increase the efficiency of defence spending.  Dr Kendry agreed with the principle and referred to Sweden as a model for effective industrial consolidation in the defence sector.

A more pessimistic note was sounded by the UK ’s Jim Hood, who pointed out that the problems surrounding burden sharing in the Alliance predate the financial crisis.  “We might be seeing the end of the NATO Alliance” he said, lamenting the unequal sacrifices allies are making in Afghanistan.  Hugh Bayley, Chairman of the Economics and Security Committee, added that the US will probably face more pressure to reduce its defence budget than European allies in the medium term.  Whilst this would close the transatlantic investment gap, the question remains whether European spending could be increased to meet the shortfall, in particular for NATO operations. 

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which brings together some 350 delegates from 28 NATO member states and other partner countries, is currently holding its Annual Session in Edinburgh, Scotland.  

 

 
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