A defence splurge will slow Europe’s deindustrialisation

Europe’s economy is being squeezed by low internal growth, tariff threats from America and a surge of imports from China. The threat of deindustrialisation haunts the continent. But there is a bright spot, even if the reason for it is grisly: the need to rearm to deter an imperialist Russia and help Ukraine fight back. Germany has changed its deficit rules to allow unlimited debt-funded defence spending. Other countries in Europe’s north and east, such as Denmark, Sweden and Poland, have announced boosts to their defence budgets to anything between 3% and 5% of GDP. NATO has a new target of spending 3.5% of GDP on defence. It all means that Europe plans to buy a lot more military kit in the years to come—and wants to make most of it at home.