Joint defence orders must match Europe's rising military spending

European military spending is set for sustained growth over the coming years as nations fulfil commitments to NATO. According to Pascale Sourisse, executive vice-president at defence group Thales, the manufacturing sector is fully capable of absorbing the multi-billion-euro investment planned across the continent. Speaking to Cinco Días, Sourisse emphasised that the current rise in military expenditure is not a temporary spike, but a structural shift that will endure over time.

Sceptics of European defence integration argue that procurement should remain strictly under national control to protect sovereign industrial bases and domestic jobs. That concern is understandable given the strategic sensitivity of defence manufacturing.

However, expanding industrial capacity across separate national lines creates inefficiency and fragmentation. Without joint buying and shared standards, higher national budgets risk generating twenty-seven competing orders for different systems, driving up costs and hampering military cooperation. To turn this expanded spending into lasting security, European nations must pool procurement and build a genuine single market for defence.