Berlin, FRG (Weltexpress). With this assessment, the communist magazine ‘Contropiano’ exposed on its online portal on 3 September 2025 the policy pursued in Brussels, which aims to regain ground by force in the military tug-of-war with the US, thereby ushering in an era of poverty. The magazine refers to the annual report of the European Defence Agency (EDA), which states that the 27 EU member states invested a record amount of 343 billion euros in so-called defence spending in the two-year period from 2024 to 2025, an increase of 19 per cent compared to 2023. Expenditure is just under two per cent of GDP, which was NATO’s target until June last year. A further increase is expected this year, with estimates putting the figure at €381 billion. According to the EDA, these figures reflect ‘the determination of member states to strengthen Europe’s military capabilities in response to the changing security environment’.
The increase in spending is mainly due to record purchases of military equipment and investments in research and development (13 billion). Investments in the entire military sector have exceeded the 100 billion mark (106 billion to be precise) and now account for almost a third of total spending, according to Contropiano. This is the highest level since the EDA began collecting data, but it is still not enough to keep pace with a superpower like the US. Above all, the challenges of a fragmented military-industrial complex remain. The EDA calls for ‘greater cooperation to maximise efficiency and ensure interoperability between EU armed forces’.
The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in Brussels, Kaja Kallas, who also heads the EDA in this capacity, put it clearly: ‘The European Union is using all the financial and political instruments at its disposal to support Member States and European companies in this endeavour. Defence today is not an option, but essential for the protection of our citizens. This must be the era of European defence.’
This is not ‘an era of poverty reduction or environmental protection; it is the era of warfare,’ the communist magazine clarifies. European governments have chosen this path to breathe new life into the continent’s stifled industry after the export-oriented model failed (even if they don’t want to say so after decades of austerity). Austerity measures are becoming even more severe in order to allocate even more resources to this strongly military-Keynesian approach. EDA Executive Director André Denk stated: “Achieving the new NATO target of 3.5 per cent of GDP will require even greater efforts, with total expenditure exceeding €630 billion per year. However, we must also work closely together, achieve economies of scale and improve interoperability.” The amount of public funds to be allocated to the military-industrial complex and the qualitative leap towards a truly European defence are the issues that Brussels must clarify in order to be able to flex its muscles, as it claims.
The EU is boasting because its desire to present itself as an autonomous player in global competition has failed in the face of ‘friendly fire’ from Washington and the inability of the European ruling classes to bring about the necessary changes to the Community project in the historic upheavals of recent decades.
Unable to admit their own failure, they are trying to become increasingly involved in this military tug-of-war, hoping to regain ground by force. The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, wrote a few days ago in a post on X: ‘Soft power alone is not enough in a world where hard power all too often prevails.’ It is a race to disaster, but armed to the teeth.
