The federal Budget Minister Vincent Van Peteghem has agreed that defence investments should increase to 2% of the GDP by this summer, but he warned on Sunday on VTM that these additional funds must be compensated.
“Any debt we incur today adds to the public debt, which is already high,” he pointed out.
The De Wever government’s current plan aims to raise defence investments to 2% of GDP – the NATO standard – by 2029, and to 2.5% by 2034. This requires a budgetary effort of 17.2 billion euros over the next four years, calculated CD&V Deputy Prime Minister.
However, this timeline is no longer relevant due to international developments. Vincent Van Peteghem is also convinced that the 2% must be available by this summer. The “Rearm Europe” plan, proposed this week by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is expected to assist by exempting certain defence expenditures from the calculation of public deficits and debts.
To offset these investments, the minister confirms the potential sale of state assets, which Defence Minister Theo Francken (N-VA) wants to use to finance a defence fund. He also aims for “additional savings efforts” and revenues from frozen Russian assets. He also intends to ask federal entities for a “small share of the effort” in ensuring overall security.
Regarding Minister Francken’s proposal to launch a government bond to finance military reinvestment, Vincent Van Peteghem acknowledges that this could help gather the necessary funds. He himself had launched a bond under the previous government that raised 22 billion euros. However, he reminds that private investors must eventually be repaid.
