MEPs approved this Friday in committee the principle of a budget of the armed forces increased to 413.3 billion euros over seven years (2024-2030), this programming law (LPM) still to be debated for two weeks in the hemicycle.
The budget of the armed forces would be supplemented by successive marches: + 3.1 billion euros in 2024 then 3 billion per year from 2025 to 2027, and finally 4.3 billion per year from 2028. Much to the chagrin of the oppositions who demand that the most important efforts arrive before the end of President Emmanuel Macron's five-year term.
In committee, the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu defended a "historic" investment and a desire to make these "marches" "floors". On the other hand, he said that the bar of 2% of GDP for defense, commitment of NATO members, would no longer necessarily be reached from "2025", but "before the end of the five-year term".
The opposition abstains
Most opposition MPs abstained from the vote in committee, notably on the left and the National Rally (RN). The minister will return to defend his version for two weeks in public session starting May 22. The executive should look to the side of the group The Republicans (LR). In committee Jean-Louis Thiériot (LR) considered that the right could not, subject to the evolution of the text, "oppose an increase of 30% of budgets", but expressed itself "in a personal capacity".
And for good reason, its president Olivier Marleix estimated in Le Figaro that the 413 billion only allow "to maintain the level of our army after decades of scarcity". He also regretted that 13.3 billion euros had to come from extra-budgetary resources, which he said made these appropriations uncertain. But the LR won an amendment in committee aimed at making them more secure.
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"Our signature will be expensive"
With the left, disagreements promise to emerge in the hemicycle, notably on the place of nuclear deterrence, arms sales and the condition of the military. "Our signature will be expensive," promises a socialist executive. A significant portion of the seven-year budget will be used to cover inflation. Its effect is estimated at 30 billion, according to the ministry.
On the other hand, the LPM maintains programs related to nuclear deterrence or the schedule of the next-generation aircraft carrier by 2038, and devotes investments to cybersecurity, space or intelligence. Despite increasing resources, the armies should not escape certain postponements of equipment deliveries (armored, Scorpion, Griffon, Rafale).
