This morning, the French Ministry of Defense published its 2024-2030 Military Programming Law (LPM) which outlines military spending for that period. The budget is worth 413.3B Euros (462B USD). The announcement reads below:
“After the agreement found on Monday, July 10, in a joint joint committee on the rate of progress of the budget, the military programming law 2024-2030 (LPM) was definitively adopted by the representatives of the two chambers of Parliament. First in the National Assembly on Wednesday, with 244 votes for and 37 against, then in the Senate on Thursday by 317 votes for and 13 against”
Defense Minister Lecornu was proud to announce the 40% increase in spending and the meeting of the NATO 2% GDP requirement for defense:
“In a context of war in Ukraine, the LPM 2024-2030 plans to devote 413.3 billion euros to the armies over seven years. This represents an additional 118 billion euros and an increase of 40% compared to the previous LPM. This substantial effort makes it possible to maintain the objective of bringing the national defense effort to 2% of GDP during this LPM.”
The announcement also laments how the previous LPM was plagued by budget cuts and damaged France’s ability to respond to the war in Ukraine and the crises in the Sahel. However, this LPM vows to realize France’s ambitious goals of being a leader in the EU and NATO while maintaining national autonomy.
One of the most interesting notes on the announcement however had to do with creating a “moral force”, which effectively means preparing the French Republic for war. That part of the announcement reads below:
“Finally, emphasis is also placed on the importance of the moral forces of the Nation. Faced with the return of war in Europe, France wants to conduct a defense policy that goes beyond its armed forces to involve the entire population. The LPM 2024-2030 therefore provides for a whole series of measures to strengthen the involvement of civil society in the protection of the country. The objective of the ratio of one operational reservist for two active military personnel by 2035 meets this ambition.”
That note brings into sobering clarity that nations around the world are waking up to the possibility of global war with tensions in the South China Sea flaring and the war in Ukraine continuing to escalate with the delivery of more capable weapons to the battlefield.
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