European leaders, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed Monday that Europe must ramp up defense spending and address military shortfalls.
“A lot has been done already on European defense. But we need to do more. We need to do it better, stronger, faster. And we need to do it together. Now, the time has come to make choices and take decisions,” European Council President António Costa posted on X after the Brussels summit.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already prompted EU nations to boost defense budgets, but there’s a growing push to reduce dependence on the U.S.—a demand Donald Trump has repeatedly made. Leaders committed to strengthening air and missile defense, ammunition supplies, and military transport, though no concrete financing strategy emerged, according to Mandiner.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the urgency of increased military spending. “Europe fundamentally needs to increase defense spending. And to do that, we need to strengthen our defense industrial base,” she said, adding that the Commission is exploring more flexible financial regulations to make funding defense investments easier.
In 2024, EU nations spent an average of 1.9% of GDP on defense—roughly €326 billion—a 30% increase from 2021. However, the Commission estimates an additional €500 billion will be needed over the next decade to sustain Europe’s military capabilities. Trump’s call for NATO allies to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP remains unrealistic for most members.
To finance these efforts, leaders floated several options, including increasing national defense budgets, leveraging the European Investment Bank, and attracting private investment. While joint EU loans weren’t explicitly discussed, sources suggest military development could be backed by loans instead of grants.
Beyond defense spending, another looming challenge was impossible to ignore—Trump’s plan to slap new tariffs on EU exports. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán summed up the mood with a warning on X: “Everyone in Brussels can see the Trump tornado coming, but most still think they can get away from it. They won’t.”
