French Senate proposes €14 billion increase to military programming law to meet NATO target

The French Senate on May 27 proposed adding €14 billion to the government's updated military programming law (LPM) for 2024-2030, raising the total allocation to €450 billion from the government's €436 billion, in order to align defense spending with NATO's 3.5% of GDP target by 2035.

Senate defense committee president Cédric Perrin announced the proposal at a press conference, arguing the government's current plan would only reach 2.5% of GDP in defense spending by 2030. The Senate version would raise spending to 2.7% of GDP by 2030, equivalent to €83.9 billion. "Ce qu'on nous propose aujourd'hui, c'est une programmation qui ne permet que de sécuriser la loi de programmation précédente," Perrin said. He added that the extra funds are needed to "donner beaucoup plus d'ambition" to the LPM and make it "cohérent" with the 3.5% NATO target.

Perrin noted that as defense minister, current Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had advocated for buying three additional first-rank frigates and 30 additional Rafale aircraft. The Senate proposal would fund three extra first-rank frigates for the Navy, ten more Rafale M, and 20 additional Rafale F4 for the Air and Space Force. "Il faut considérer que demain, ce n'est pas dans dix ans, ce n'est pas dans cinq ans. Demain, c'est demain," Perrin said.

The government had already proposed €36 billion in additional credits, bringing the total to €436 billion. Perrin said the Senate's extra €14 billion would be spread over 2026-2030 and 2030-2035 to make the effort "plus réalisable." The Senate version would require an increase of 0.7-0.8% of GDP by 2035 rather than 1%, which Perrin called "important mais beaucoup plus réalisable."