Spain still unsure as EU neighbours start to rearm

27 EUROPEAN nations have expressed interest in the European Rearmament Plan that seeks to expand the military capabilities of its member states with Spain still being undecided.

15 capitals have expressed their intention to make use of the plan, while 12 have formalised their request before the flexible deadline of April 30. 

The European Commission, which aims to achieve European autonomy in defence by 2030, presented an €800,000 million plan in March to increase military spending and improve European capabilities.

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The activation of the plan allows these member states to deviate from their approved net expenditure paths or their corrective path under the Excessive Deficit Procedure.

Most member countries are willing to invest more in their defence, apart from Spain.

“The decision on behalf of Spain has not yet been taken, and we will assess it over the coming months,” said the Spanish Minister of Economy Carlos Cuerpo. 

When it comes to defence spending of all NATO Allies, Spain has been the lowest-spending nation in terms of GDP for many years, spending well below the NATO threshold of 2%.

Last year, Spanish defence spending went up from 1.28% to 1.40%.

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This number will increase further as the year goes on, since Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on April 22 that more than €10 billion will be allocated to meet the 2% target this year.

With this new investment, the total of all of Spain’s defence spending will reach an estimated €33 billion this year.

Although its GDP percentage is low, Spain is still one of the top contributors to NATO’s budget, providing 5.8% of the total.