23/04: EUROPEAN MILITARY SPENDING & THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY: SQUARING THE CIRCLE

On Tuesday 23 April, from 16:00 to 17:15 CEST
(10:00 New York – 19:30 New Delhi – 22:00 Manila)

Join us to debate European military spending in 2023 and how it harms peace and the planet
How much has the European continent spent on the military in 2023? How is EU militarisation exacerbating military spending? Why is militarization not compatible with the fight against climate change? How European militarisation and energy issues are linked, using Mozambique as an example?

We will discuss these issues and many others with the following panellists:
• Wendela de Vries, Coordinator & researcher at StopWapenhandel (moderation)
• Jordi Calvo, Office coordinator at International Peace Bureau (IPB-Barcelona) & Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS)
• Laëtitia Sédou, Project officer at the European Network against Arms Trade (ENAAT)
• Nick Buxton, Knowledge Hub coordinator at the Transnational Institute (TNI)
• Daniel Ribeiro, co-founder and researcher at JA! Justiça Ambiental/FoE Mozambique

Please register by filling the form here

Background:
On Monday 22 April, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) will release its updated data on world military expenditure for the year 2023. Global military spending has risen every year since 2015, and we expect this trend to accelerate in 2023.
Europe’s military spending will be no exception at both national and European level for those who are members of the EU. The latter have just adopted restrictive EU budgetary rules that will force many Member States to further reduce their public spending, and this will primary affect the welfare state, health or education and even the fight against climate change.
On the other hand, military spending could be considered as “essential investments” and not be included in the calculation of national deficits.

This event is organised by ENAAT in cooperation with the Transnational Institute, the International Peace Bureau and StopWapenhandel, and is part of the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS)

more news

The competitiveness trap: How EU ‘simplification’ fuels a global arms race

3 March 2026

This piece was first published as an Opinion article on EUobserver, ‘How the EU is deregulating arms-control to be like any other industry‘ For most citizens, terms like “simplification” and “harmonisation” sound positive. However, within the Brussels’ EU “bubble,” they are used as a Trojan horse for massive deregulation. Specifically, a new legislative package—the Defence Readiness Omnibus—threatens to overhaul how weapons are produced and sold, creating a dangerous precedent for global security. As “Trilogue” negotiations begin under the Cyprus EU Presidency, the stakes could not be higher. Under the guise of “completing the internal market” for defence and