Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and his deputy prime ministers met on Friday morning at the state residence on 16 Rue de la Roi to discuss the allocation of investments, notably in the defence sector.
In an address to the Federal Parliament on Thursday, De Wever stated that the government hoped to accelerate investments in defence spending to reach the NATO designated defence spending target of 2% of GDP more quickly.
In June, it is expected that NATO members will be asked at a meeting in The Hague to formally exceed this current spending goal as nations across Europe race to remobilise in the face of Russia’s westward aggression.
Belgium, like many other countries, is still far short of the 2% of GDP defence goal. If asked to expand its spending beyond this level, the country could find itself falling far short of its targets.
The new Federal Government agreement signed in January had planned to nudge Belgium towards this target by 2029, but these plans will likely need to be accelerated.
All the member parties of Bart De Wever’s Arizona coalition agree that there is a pressing need to increase the pace of investments. The new government plans to create a defence fund to finance these investments, funded by dividends from the shares of the State’s investment in companies. Further funds will be achieved from the sale of assets.
The European Union is also set to assist in the creation of this fund, granting budgetary facilities to help European nations in their defence sector investments. Current plans foresee an investment of approximately €17 billion, according to Minister of Budget Vincent Van Peteghem.
"We will calmly analyse in the council of ministers the diversity of possible tracks," explained Les Éngagés leader and deputy prime minister Maxime Prévot. He also cautioned that the current state of the budget did not allow for increased debt but that imposing savings on some sectors would seem “unreasonable.”
