Defense spending

German defense industry decries Berlin’s new budget plan as too low

Newly released budget figures risk putting Germany on a path to miss NATO-wide spending expectations and even undershoot its own, lower target, warn defense industry advocates.

The assessment by the BDSV industry association comes after details emerged this week about the government’s newest spending blueprint. While a bump of €2 billion (U.S. $2.3 billion) is in the offing for 2020 — to €45 billion, or 1.37 percent of gross domestic product — defense spending is slated to drop in the ensuing years, down to 1.25 percent of GDP in 2023.

BDSV chief Hans Christoph Atzpodien called the projections “disappointing,” especially in light of equipment problems plaguing the armed forces. He also warned that Germany could lose its standing on the world stage. The budget would have “negative effects … on Germany’s role in the European Union’s defense-cooperation policy and in NATO,” Atzpodien wrote in a statement.

The military budget as a percentage of GDP is a key yardstick for NATO members. All allies have pledged to boost defense spending toward 2 percent by 2024, mostly in reaction to a resurgent Russia. Germany was never on track to reach that level, which would translate into tens of billions of dollars extra within just a few years.