V. Europe and the impact of austerity on military expenditure

Chapter:

4. Military expenditure

Source:

SIPRI Yearbook 2012

Author(s):

Sam Perlo-Freeman, Carina Solmirano, Elisabeth Sköns, Olawale Ismail, Noel Kelly, Olawale Ismail, Helen Wilandh

As a result of the global financial and economic crisis that started in 2008, budget deficits soared across most of Europe, and in 2011 discussions on military expenditure in Europe were dominated by the impact of the austerity measures enacted by governments in an effort to reduce these deficits. On the one hand, acute debt crises in Greece, Italy and Spain have led to the imposition of particularly severe austerity measures—with major cuts to public spending and increases in taxation—in some cases as a condition of international bailout packages. On the other hand, countries such as the United Kingdom that have not faced such imminent debt problems have also cut public spending, based on the belief that reducing deficits is the overwhelming economic priority following the crisis.