The Financial Architecture of European Rearmament

Over the past decade, and particularly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the central question in European defence policy has shifted from the level of defence spending to the structure of defence financing.

The problem confronting European governments is no longer limited to allocating larger military budgets, but rather to rebuilding the industrial, technological, and financial foundations required to sustain defence capabilities over the long term. In this context, defence policy increasingly overlaps with industrial policy, innovation policy, and financial architecture.

This analysis answers: How has the central question of European defence shifted from the level of spending to the structure of financing? What core EU instruments and financial instruments support defence research, innovation and industry? How do NATO and allied instruments and national public investment actors fit the defence venture ecosystem? What does a system mapping of the European defence financing architecture imply strategically?