The National Assembly approved the 2022 defense budget on Tuesday evening, October 25, up for the fourth consecutive year (+ 4.3%) to 40.9 billion euros, in accordance with the 2019-2025 military programming law, despite the doubts expressed by the opposition on the credibility of the future budget trajectory.
Defense, the second largest item in the state budget after education, will benefit from a further increase of 1.7 billion euros next year.
With a global envelope of 295 billion euros over seven years, the 2019-2025 LPM provides for a clear increase in the defense budget after years of deflation.
But the largest increases (+3 billion per year) are expected from 2023, after the next presidential election.
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This budget
"respects to the letter the trajectory of the LPM and concretizes the commitments made by the President of the Republic"
, underlined in front of the deputies the Minister of the Armies Florence Parly, by arguing a
"historic effort"
for defense.
"We are not quite halfway
(of the LPM) yet
but we are constant and consistent,"
she said.
"We managed to set ourselves an ambitious programming law and, even more difficult, to stick to it"
, added LREM deputy Aude Bono-Vandorme.
In these times of presidential pre-campaign, the opposition insisted on the mortgages which weigh on the rise in power of the budget of the armies, while the most important budgetary effort to be made remains to come.
"This 4th budget of the LPM also respects the trajectory initially planned"
, but
"the difficulties are in front of us"
, lamented the deputy LR François Cornut-Gentille, recalling that LPM plans from 2023
"the crossing of three successive budget marches of three billion ”
. However,
"in the new post-Covid economic context, this ambition appears less and less tenable,"
he said.
"The hardest part remains to be done to guarantee compliance with the LPM"
, added the deputy Michèle Tabarot (LR) by deploring the
"assumed choice to postpone most of the effort to the next five-year term"
.
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The parliamentarian also deplored that the recent arms sales for export are to the detriment of the French armies, which have equipment taken away for France to honor its contracts.
"We are going to strip our armies to sell fighter planes and buildings to Croatia and Greece
.
"
However,
"we can no longer ask our armies to prepare for the wars of tomorrow with yesterday's equipment
," she said.
“Hunting paradoxically suffers from the success of the burst in exports. They must be compensated as quickly as possible "
because
" between 10 and 20
(combat aircraft)
Rafale will be missing in 2025 "
, insisted the deputy Jean-Jacques Ferrara (LR).
Alexis Corbière, from the rebellious France of Jean-luc Mélenchon, regretted that the
"accounting"
discussions
mask the
"absence of strategic reflection in the parliamentary framework"
on French defense.
“For what reasons are our armies engaged in such and such a conflict?
(...) We are in a military stalemate in Mali, ”
he criticized, also criticizing France's participation in NATO.
The final adoption of the entire 2022 budget by Parliament must take place before Christmas.