France's defense budget should reach €63.4 billion by 2027, which was previously planned to be achieved only in 2030. President Emmanuel Macron announced a significant acceleration of plans to increase the country's defense capabilities.
Nous avions prévu de doubler le budget de nos armées d’ici 2030. Nous le ferons d’ici 2027. pic.twitter.com/GoU8t1M7Do— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 13, 2025
This decision is not as simple as it seems, as France currently has a fairly large budget deficit and has directed significant efforts to reduce it. At the same time, defense spending is directly related to the real security challenges for the country against the backdrop of the russian threat and goes under the slogan "defend our freedom".
Read more: F-35 Not Purchased, FCAS is Falling Apart: Spain Faces Sad Prospect of Being Left With 4th-Gen Fighters
It is also worth noting the dynamics, because in 2025 France plans to spend €50.5 billion on defense, €57.2 billion in 2026. Thus, in two years, the increase in spending will amount to €12.9 billion, which is planned to be covered, as indicated, by increasing economic activity.
Is even such a significant amount sufficient for the real security challenges of Europe? This question is very significant — especially considering that French forces must make a significant contribution to the security of the countries of the European segment of NATO as well as the European Union.
For orientation, it is possible to pay attention to the defense spending of Germany, which is also actively increasing it. In 2025, German spending should amount to €62.43 billion from the budget and another €21.64 billion from a special fund – a total of €86.56 billion. In 2027, only from the budget, without involving funds from the special fund, it is planned to spend €93.35 billion. That is, this year Germany should spend more on defense than France planned in three years. In 2027, Germany will spend one and a half times more on defense than France.
Another pillar of European security is the armed forces of Great Britain. In 2025, this country plans to spend 66.3 billion pounds on defense, that is, about €76.5 billion. This is more than the French plan to spend in 2027, too. At the same time, London is also increasing these expenses, and in 2027, they should amount to 79.7 billion pounds, or about €92 billion at the current exchange rate.
We can also remember Poland, which in 2025 has planned expenditures at the level of 186.6 billion zlotys, which is equal to about €43.8 billion. That is, having a weaker economy, this country spends not much less than France does now, the difference is only €6.7 billion. That said, taking into account the growing Polish defense spending, although Warsaw did not reveal specific plans for the coming years, France and Poland may well have almost the same defense budgets by in 2027.
That is, the example of France's increase in defense spending plans demonstrates that simply "running" is not enough. Moreover, it is not even enough to "accelerate" — especially after a number of countries refuse to make any fundamental changes in their defense spending. The example of Spain is indicative, where, despite the announcement of planned NATO spending at the level of 5%, they declared that these commitments mean nothing, even though this 5% is about 2035.
Read more: Spain Reveals Its New-Generation Grenade Launcher: Hispano MPW
