Taking Stock: Europe’s Rearmament, One Year On

CSDS POLICY BRIEF • 8/2023

By Lotje Boswinkel

15.03.2023

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European states across the continent began increasing their defence budgets. Since 2014, Europe’s defence spending had already been cautiously rising, yet Putin’s move in 2022 set in motion a true “European Zeitenwende”. While implementation is ongoing and long-term results remain to be seen, some preliminary observations about Europe’s spending spree can be made. This Policy Brief conducts a capability-focused stocktake across Europe to examine the extent to which additional budgets have been spent or allocated, and which investment areas are being prioritised. It observes a tendency among Europeans to focus on purchasing high-end capabilities and replenishing stocks, while various joint and enabling capabilities and maintenance and personnel spending receive less attention. Simultaneously, the pressure to deliver rapidly is pushing Europeans to buy off-the-shelf, non-European equipment, while the downward trend in coordinated and collaborative European defence spending is being continued.

CSDS Policy brief_2308.pdf (395.89 KB)

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