News item | 12-12-2024 | 07:52
During a plenary debate last night, the House of Representatives considered the legalization of the NATO standard for Defense. The private member’s bill now before us stipulates that the Netherlands will spend at least 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on Defense every year.
Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans is happy with the proposal. “As far as I’m concerned, it was a historic debate. The current government is already taking great steps forward in strengthening our armed forces. Especially now, with the accumulation of threats, stable and long-term financial security is extremely important. This ensures that we can further build up our armed forces and properly equip our soldiers. This offers the defense industry more certainty to further scale up production. It also sends a strong signal to our allies that the Netherlands is a reliable partner.”
Follow-up
The desire to structurally spend at least 2% of GDP on Defense was already expressed in the Coalition Agreement of the Schoof cabinet, which took office last summer.
The House of Representatives will soon vote on the private member’s bill. The Senate must then also approve. With the new law, the Netherlands would continue to comply with the current NATO standard. NATO allies agreed to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2024.