Defence Spending in Europe in Light of the Economic Crisis
The economic crisis has impacted deeply on defence spending in Europe. It has led to uncoordinated cuts to defence budgets at national level, but has also revived interest in bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Both the EU and NATO have made an effort to involve European countries in cooperative projects, under the banners of "Pooling and Sharing" and "Smart Defence" respectively, with limited results. At the same time, the European Commission has adopted two directives regarding defence spending, and the European Defence Agency has been strengthened. While defence spending remains predominantly a national prerogative, European countries will soon face the choice of pooling certain capabilities at international level or losing them because of insufficient spending. In this light, Italy is rationalizing its defence budget, while preserving its commitments to international cooperation.
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Details
Roma, Istituto Affari Internazionali, 2012, 14 p. -
Issue
1227 -
ISBN/ISSN/DOI:
978-88-98042-64-7
Introduction
1. The situation before the European economic crisis
1.1. Three structural elements of defence spending in the pre-crisis period
1.2. Multilateral, EU and NATO frameworks for defence spending
2. The impact of the economic crisis
2.1. The national level: uncoordinated cuts and limited cooperation
2.2. The EU level: EDA developments and Commission directives
2.3. Member State interest in saving money through cooperation
2.4. Defence procurement and the economic crisis: looking ahead
3. The economic crisis and Italy
References