“The federal government is committed to NATO’s 2 percent target,” said a Defense Ministry spokesperson.
In addition to the annual defense budget, Berlin also includes in its defense spending total sent to NATO some expenditures from other departments. That includes the Foreign Office, Chancellery and the Ministry of Finance, the spokesperson said, but the total amount is classified.
Camille Grand, a former NATO assistant secretary-general, said that while NATO’s calculation excludes most mobility expenditure, the NATO Security Investment Programme does cover some infrastructure requirements, such as modernizing an air base or building a warehouse.
“Ultimately allies can decide to put money on many things as long as they agree,” Grand said. “In practice, the bulk of the military mobility effort will fall on the EU and [the European Commission’s transport department] DG MOVE which has started investing (modestly) in military mobility requirements under the current [multiannual financial framework] MFF.”
In June, the German Council on Foreign Relations called for a national fund of at least €30 billion to be set up to cover the most urgent work on the parts of the country’s network of 38,400 kilometers of railway track and 13,000 km of highway needed for tank and troop transit.
