Defense Burden Sharing and Military Cooperation in the EU27: A Descriptive Analysis (2002–2023)

Sara Mombelli

doi:10.1515/peps-2024-0050

Article

Defense Burden Sharing and Military Cooperation in the EU27: A Descriptive Analysis (2002–2023)

Sara Mombelli

Published/Copyright: December 5, 2024

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From the journal Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy Volume 30 Issue 4

Abstract

This paper analyzes defense burden sharing and defense cooperation in the European Union. The efforts to build a common defense framework within the EU have significantly increased since the 2000s. However, figures seem to highlight a reversal in defense cooperation trends that may potentially jeopardize the EU common defense framework. The underlying cause can be attributed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014. In 2022, the recrudescence of war caused a disruption to which member states answered with an old-fashioned receipt, composed of higher military expenditure driven by increasing commitment in military equipment procurement, accompanied by decreasing defense cooperation. Data related to the participation in Permanent Structured Cooperation defense joint programs seem to empirically confirm this new trend, as well as the impact the conflict has had on defense burden sharing. Fragmentation thus appears to be growing and undoing the progress made.

Keywords: common defense; EU; military expenditure; burden sharing; cooperation

JEL Classification: F53; H56; H61; L64; N44

Corresponding author: Sara Mombelli, PhD Candidate in Peace Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome , Italy ; and Visiting Student, Department of Economic Policy, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, E-mail: sara.mombelli@uniroma1.it

Acknowledgments

I warmly thank Anna Balestra for her comments and reviews on a preliminary draft of this paper.

Appendix

Table A1:

Subdivision of EU member states in groups.

Group	EU member states
EU West	Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg
EU East	Poland, Romania, Czechia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus
EU East – non USSR	Poland, Romania, Czechia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Cyprus
Former USSR MS	Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia
Major EU MS	Germany, France, Italy, Spain
Maritime	Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus
Maritime (West)	Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Greece, Denmark, Finland, Ireland
Maritime (East)	Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus
Landlocked	Czechia, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Luxembourg

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Received: 2024-11-14

Accepted: 2024-11-14

Published Online: 2024-12-05

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/peps-2024-0050

Keywords for this article

common defense; EU; military expenditure; burden sharing; cooperation