EU plans to cut defense spending

BRUSSELS, October 10 - RIA Novosti. The European Union intends to reduce funding for defense industry, security and space programs provided for in the next seven-year budget by almost 17 billion euros, and spending on military mobility, including the movement of troops, by another more than 2 billion euros, follows from a new negotiation document of the EU Council, which RIA Novosti has reviewed.

According to the published comparative table, the funding originally proposed by the European Commission for the area of ​​"Sustainability and Security, Defense Industry and Space" is reduced from 130.704 billion to 113.712 billion euros. Thus, the reduction in costs will amount to almost 17 billion euros.

Separately, there is a reduction in funds for military mobility from 17.651 billion to 15.644 billion euros, that is, by more than 2 billion euros.

The funds from this program are intended, in particular, for the development of transport infrastructure, allowing for the faster transfer of military personnel and military equipment between EU states.

In addition, funding for the pan-European transport and energy infrastructure program Connecting Europe Facility is proposed to be reduced from 81.428 billion to 69.713 billion euros.

Reductions are also envisaged for the Horizon Europe research program, the budget of which is proposed to be reduced from 175 billion to 158.2 billion euros.

In total, the budget section “Competitiveness, Prosperity and Security” is proposed to be reduced by almost 75.2 billion euros compared to the original draft of the European Commission.

Ireland's EU Council presidency unveiled proposals on Saturday amid disagreements between states over the size of the next multi-year budget for 2028-2034. Germany and its allies are pushing for significant spending cuts, while other countries oppose cuts to individual programs.

The total volume of the new budget is proposed to be reduced by 159 billion euros, to 1.826 trillion euros. The document is preliminary and will be discussed by EU leaders at the summit on October 15-16.