Defence, an EU report estimates spending of up to 547 billion by 2029

A first annual report on defence readiness forecasts defence spending in the European Union of up to 547 billion euros by 2029. The document was drafted by the European Defence Agency, led by Kaja Kallas, and is expected to be discussed at the European Council of 15-16 October 2026.

The news comes at present from a single source — the reconstruction by Quotidiano Nazionale based on the European Defence Agency’s report — and has not yet found independent confirmation from other journalistic sources.

This is the first exercise of its kind carried out by the Agency, which is tasked with monitoring the state of military preparedness of member states and guiding common choices on investments in the sector. The report will serve as a basis for discussion for the heads of state and government who will meet in mid-October, but the material available does not specify whether the figure indicated already corresponds to commitments formalised by member states or to an estimate drawn up by the Agency ahead of the Council.

The context in which the document arrives is not coincidental. In recent months several geopolitical dossiers — from the conflict in the Middle East to tensions on the Union’s eastern flank — have brought the issue of common defence back to the centre of the European agenda, and the discussion on the distribution of burdens among member states remains one of the most delicate political knots in any shared military strengthening plan.

It is not yet possible, on the basis of the material available, to know how the figure indicated in the report will translate into concrete commitments by individual governments, nor what reception it will receive at the European Council table. 15-16 October remains, at present, the date from which it will become clear how governments intend to translate the figure indicated by the Agency.