Boosting NATO’s defence capabilities means going beyond 3% target, says Rutte

NATO member states will have to find ways to increase joint purchases and use existing infrastructure, or face a rise in defence spending of up to 3.7%. The transatlantic military alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, told the European Parliament on Monday.

“If you do joint buying and use the NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency) and everything else within NATO and the EU, then you can deduct joint buying, you can deduct innovation (from the overall 3.7% estimate),” Rutte told MEPs in Brussels.   

For example, the former Dutch prime minister cited the Ukrainians, who are experimenting with new, cheaper radar systems to detect enemy missiles, as an example of how some overall defence costs could be reduced.

NATO’s 32 allies have pledged to meet the target of spending 2% of their GDP on defence, but so far, only 23 NATO members meet the threshold. Rutte has already stated that 2% will not be sufficient to ensure the alliance’s security in five years’ time.

“To be honest, 2% is not nearly enough to stay safe in the years to come. As parliamentarians, you know well that security does not come for free,” Rutte told MEPs in Brussels.   

The head of the military alliance avoided referring to the 5% target that US President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called for but stressed that, based on the capability requirements emerging from NATO’s internal planning process, the new target will have to be above 3%.

US President-elect Donald Trump reiterated last week that members of the military alliance should spend 5% of gross domestic product on defence – and some EU countries, such as Germany, have already rejected the call as too expensive.    

“That would only be possible with massive tax increases or massive cuts to many things that are important to us,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at an election rally in the German city of Bielefeld earlier on Monday. 

Last December, Rutte called on EU and Canadian citizens to make sacrifices, such as cuts to their pensions, health, and security systems, in order to boost defence spending and ensure long-term security in Europe. However, the 5% target would require hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funding, and some of the bloc’s largest economies, such as Spain, Belgium, and Italy, do not even meet the 2% target.

NATO allies are likely to decide on the new defence spending target at a summit in The Hague in June, driven by Trump’s calls for increased defence spending and fears that Russia could attack an EU member state.