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Covid-19 and defence: the need for EU funding

07 May 2020 - 14:42
Bron: Shutterstock
Why EU budget negotiators should not only focus on financial firepower

Over the last weeks many analysts sounded the alarm about expected cuts to national defence budgets due to the corona crisis, drawing parallels with the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis when total defence spending dropped in the following six years with € 24 billion – or about 11 percent. And while national defence budgets returned to their pre-crisis levels after 2014, defence capabilities did not. The gaps created then, still exist today. As governments now pump vast amounts of state funds into their economies and health systems, eventually the budgetary circle will have to be squared and defence budgets will be affected. Can the same be expected at the EU level?

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